Multi-Million Dollar Renovations Near Completion in Chippewa Valley Schools

Three months and several million dollars later, renovations at Chippewa Valley High School, the CVHS Ninth Grade Center and several elementary and middle schools throughout Clinton Township are in their final stages of completion. 

from past bond issues to cover construction and sitework projects for the district’s elementary, middle and high schools, with the expectation that the work would be completed during the summer months.

Chippewa Valley High School

At the high school, this work included new locker rooms, installing 50,000 square feet of carpeting, refinishing both gym floors, pouring several feet of new sidewalk near the baseball diamonds and converting an existing space into a state-of-the-art fabrication lab for the district's new computer-aided design (CAD) programs.

Of those renovations, the new locker rooms will probably be the most visible to returning students and staff. Where a long corridor with double doors once connected the main hall to the locker rooms, gyms and fitness center, now a single door provides entrance to the main gym and locker rooms, which were expanded when the corridor was closed.

The locker rooms can now be entered directly from the gym and the single door providing access from the main hall can now allow school security to better monitor those entering and exiting the locker rooms and gym, said Barton Malow Project Manager George Anthony.

In the locker rooms themsevles, the old – and rarely used – group shower areas have been eliminated, with individual showers and additional locker space installed in their place. A total of 480 bright red lockers in three different sizes are now available in the four locker rooms and school officials hope a new locker design will deter theft.

In both the main and auxiliary gyms the floors have been refinished and the drinking fountains repaired. Sports fans will enjoy a new sound system in the main gym as well.

CVHS Ninth Grade Center

Next door at the Ninth Grade Center, renovations include new carpeting and furniture in the main office, new flooring in the front lobby, kitchen improvements, an acoustical treatment and motorized blinds in the gym and new sidewalks along the Romeo Plank side of the building.

A large “CV” printed on the floor of the main hall greets students and guests at they enter the building and a new set of fire doors now separates the International Academy of Macomb’s wing from the rest of the building.

Although most work at the center was completed during the summer months, Anthony said work on the rooftop mechanical units and water heaters will continue into late fall.

While most of this past summer's work was concentrated at the high school level, new card readers were installed in buildings across the district to expand security and Fox, Erie, Mohawk and Ottawa elementary schools all underwent roofing restorations. Algonquin Middle School also saw renovations in the form of a repaved front parking lot and new gym floor.

Additional renovations and mechanical upgrades at district's elementary buildings have already been scheduled for next summer.