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On May 21, 2024, Fort Edward Union Free School District voters will vote on a $14,700,000 capital project titled, "Fortify our Future". The proposed project will focus on 4 key areas: safety and security, facilities improvements, roofing repair, and HVAC. The Capital Project is 90% funded through state aid and is a tax-neutral project for the Fort Edward community. This project will have no additional impact on your taxes!
Proposed Safety and Security Enhancments
Some of the proposed safety and security enhancements will include new sidewalks and paving in select areas around the building. One of the major updates will be new sidewalks across the front of the building. To help enhance our campus safety, exterior lighting will be added, and older fixtures will be updated or replaced. Paving will be completed to replace failing asphalt in the parking lots and walkways. This will also include better automobile access to our track area.
Improve the turn for easier automobile access to the track.
Along with new front sidewalks, the stairs and doors in the front of the high school will be repaired and/or replaced.
Our schools' main entrance will also be reconfigured for a secure visitor waiting area. As an additional safety enhancement, we will add a school wide backup generator for use during an emergency.
The window next to the office entrance (shown above) will be replaced with a secure window for ID scanning. The front office and nurses' office will be redesigned to include an office for our building principal (shown below).
Facilities Improvements
Facilities improvements include replacement of original materials, such as replacing wall pads in the gym and repairing the football field irrigation system. The exterior of the high school will see masonry wall repairs and cleaning. The first photo shows staining on the front brick that will be removed during the cleaning process. The third photo below shows an area of the school that needs repointing to bring the mortar joints back to their original condition.
The original gymnasium padding will be replaced.
The staining of the brick on the first of the high school will be removed.
As shown above, the mortar of the original brickwork needs to be repointed to return it to its original condition.
Playground Redesign and Improvements
One of the major changes planned as part of the facilities' improvement portion of the capital project is a new playground for our elementary students. The new playground will be fully ADA compliant, allowing all students to enjoy the playground. This process involves adding a new playground surface that is wheelchair accessible. New equipment will also be added that is ADA compliant and fun for all students.
Roofing Improvements
The capital project will address various roofing issues across our buildings. Shown below are areas where roofing damage or leaks have occurred. In addition to roof replacement, various rooftop exhaust fans will also be replaced and tied into our building's HVAC control system.
Shown above and below are examples of roof flashing that has failed and needs repair / replacement.
Sections of roof have exposed fasteners showing through the surface, requiring the roof to be replaced (shown above and below).
Existing roof ventilation units that will be replaced along with the roof.
The chimney cap has failed and will be replaced.
Heating Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC):
Planned upgrades to our building's HVAC system include adding air conditioning to various parts of the building, including the main gymnasium and selected classrooms on the third floor of the high school. The plan also includes the replacement of vintage hearing units and leaking HVAC piping. We also plan to enhance our DDC building controls to increase efficiency and energy savings across the district. Finally, the dust collector in our technology classroom will be replaced and the kiln ventilation unit in the art room will be replaced.
