Rendering Released for SSHS, Project Architect Comments on Bond

Nearly 60 percent of the 3,543 residents who came out to vote Tuesday approved the Rockville Centre School District’s $45.9 million school improvement bond.

Roger P. Smith, president and principal architect at BBS Architects, Landscape Architects and Engineers -- which will be handling the project in Rockville Centre -- said that the bond's approval is a big step not just for the village, but for the entire region.

"The approval of the bond issue by the voters is a turning point for the Long Island economy," Smith said. "This is the fifth school construction bond for BBS-designed school construction projects approved on Long Island and in Lower New York State in the last two-and-a-half months. We are witnessing the beginning of the end of the recession in our region."

Prior to developing the architectural designs for the projects included in the program, BBS performed a review of the existing facilities, analyzed the demographic data and trends, assessed the cost of various alternatives, and gathered the input from the district’s personnel and the local community.

Based on this research, BBS developed the capital program that’s divided into three distinctive areas. The areas include: spatial needs, which encompass the necessary additional classrooms, administrative offices and other facilities; facility needs, which include the required maintenance and capital improvements to existing facilities and infrastructure; and the site work, which consists of sports fields, playgrounds, pick-up and drop-off loops, driveways, and parking areas. 

The projects will include the construction of additions to both South Side High School and Watson Elementary School, as well as numerous renovations throughout the district.

The bond will finance roof maintenance work, masonry reconstruction, building code upgrades, floor repairs, band and chorus room renovations, installation of security cameras, a boiler replacement and other necessary building systems work. In particular, the program includes:

1. Expanding South Side High School to replace 12 classrooms in portable trailers and converted garages. By bringing the classroom space inside, the district will be able to lock the building, which currently has to remain unlocked, limit entry to one door and improve security.
2. Adding three classrooms, small-group instruction space and additional parking at Watson Elementary School.
3. Modernizing South Side High School’s "outdated" science labs.
4. Upgrading athletic facilities throughout the district.
5. Updating music, theater and arts facilities throughout the district.
6. Addressing structural and design deficiencies in the district’s buildings.

The successful Rockville Centre bond vote is the fifth approval of BBS-designed school construction bonds for Long Island and other New York State districts since December 2012.

According to Smith, “The voters’ approvals represent both the understanding of the facility needs faced by the local school districts and the confidence in the improving economy.”

BBS also designed construction and renovation programs funded by the recently approved bond issues at the following New York State school districts:

• Islip Union Free School District ($47 million)
• Hampton Bays School District ($17 million)
• Florida Union Free School District, Orange County, N.Y. ($5 million)
• Haldane Central School District, Putnam County, N.Y. ($2 million)