From left, Jake Breckenridge, Matt Norton and Victor Bender, along with Bob Strong and the lower-school’s Greg Kaiser, who are not in the photo, are hard at work this summer making sure NDPMA’s facilities will be ready for school in late August.
And this year is no different on Notre Dame's beautiful campus, especially since the normal summer projects are occurring at the same time major new construction is happening.
“We are always extremely busy throughout the summer, but this year, with the new wing going up, it’s been even more challenging,” said Julie Frakes, Notre Dame’s facilities manager. “But the crew we have here is outstanding, so getting the work done on time is never an issue. And the workers from Frank Rewold Company, which is building the new wing, have been super great as well.”
Frakes said everything is on schedule, including the new science, art and technology wing and a very extensive array of maintenance and repair projects that include. . .
1. Replacing the main school's front entrance doors and ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) auto-opener
2. Replacing asphalt in the Jim Grimaldi Athletic Center/Beverly Gifford Music Center, middle school and business office parking lots, as well as the roads from the athletic gate to the middle division and the road to the portables
3. Installing six bottle filling stations: two in the lower-school building, one in GAC, and three in the main building
4. Phase 3 of the Media Center renovation: adding two glass study enclaves
and additional furniture
5. Adding an IT service window and counter in the B lobby triangle
6. Replacing the band's storage shed
7. Renovate and repurpose space in the existing building freed up by the addition of squatter footage in the new wing: new teacher's lounge, new meeting and collaboration areas, new study hall
8. Upgrading the athletics' team room and visitors locker room
"It really is kind of a mad dash to get everything done by a hard deadline," Frakes said. "In the case of this summer, that deadline is August 21, when our students begin to show up for the fall term."
Comments or questions? mkelly@ndpma.org.
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About Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy
Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy is a private, Catholic, independent, coeducational day school located in Oakland County. The school's upper division enrolls students in grades nine through twelve and has been named one of the nation's best 50 Catholic high schools (Acton Institute) four times since 2005. Notre Dame's middle and lower divisions enroll students in jr. kindergarten through grade eight. All three divisions are International Baccalaureate "World Schools." NDPMA is conducted by the Marist Fathers and Brothers and is accredited by the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. For more on Notre Dame Preparatory School and Marist Academy, visit the school's home page at www.ndpma.org