The construction at Liberty has provoked questions from students about the reasons behind delays, the new plaza and 500 buildings, and details on the finished school.
One change in that process is the majority of construction workers’ shifts now start at 3 p.m. and end at 11 p.m. because work cannot get done while school is going on.
“It’s understandable for a student to say, jeez, the construction workers are lazy and they’re not working very hard,” LHS principal Josh Almy said. “Well, they’re really not here until after our students have gone home.”
A factor contributing to the halted progress in building the plaza at Liberty involves the particularities of concrete, which cannot be poured in low temperatures or while it is raining. Following the pouring are three to five days of concrete curing, then paver landscaping; finally the concrete is sand blasted to give it an aesthetic appeal.
“The plaza is a project that has taken and will continue to take a long time.” Almy said. “With one more concrete pour to do, it probably won’t be done until Halloween.”
The new 500 wing will feature an enormous state-of-the-art library, numerous computer labs, and new classrooms that all have windows. The bus lane will be fully landscaped and re-paved.
Almy pointed out that although there are negative aspects to experiencing the construction at Liberty, there is a bright side: learning how to live, work, and study around construction becomes relevant for students going to universities, due to land grants that allow constant rebuilds and renovations on college campuses.
“Even though this year’s senior class will be attending most of their classes in the portables, those areas like the commons, the gym, the L’Café, the DECA store and the main offices— those are all new. So they get to experience that new stuff,” Almy said. “When this year’s juniors are seniors, they’ll have the brand new school. And the year after that, the stadium will be brand new.”
The complete rebuild of the stadium is Phase Four in the 100 million dollar Liberty renovation. Though Liberty still needs a contractor for the job, administration is hoping to begin Phase Four just after football and soccer season next year.