Construction continues despite COVID-19

By Grace Gyepes, Staff Writer

Since April 2019, Samo has been building the Discovery building. Although students have not been on campus since early March, construction has persisted, and the Discovery building is now 60 percent complete. 

As of April 2, digging at the new construction site began. The construction team is focusing on the foundation of the building, hence the steel and concrete skeleton. Consisting of 38 classrooms, the Discovery building will include the M and O House offices, a common area, seminar rooms, an Olympic-size pool (50 meters), a full-service kitchen for the district, two multipurpose rooms (one of which can be divided into two), a rooftop STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) classroom and parking spaces for 288 vehicles. In addition, 184 of the parking spots will be beneath the building. 

At the end of September, Chris Clonts, head of communications for the project discussed the construction’s progress.

“The exterior finish of the building is being completed and the majority of the work now has moved inside, building out classrooms and other spaces. The project is still on schedule to be occupied by the time school starts in the fall of 2021,” Clonts said. 

Photo from SMMUSD Construction (@SmmusdC) on Twitter - The Discovery Building, a work-in-progress, is seen above.

The Science Quad has been demolished, but not without a replacement. The new building will also contain indoor and outdoor dining areas for students. 

 “There is a new backbone utility system. The Science Quad is not being destroyed, but rather is being replaced with a more efficient use of the space, which now wraps around into a far wider Centennial Quad. That will enhance the experience of the area. Incidentally, the name currently being used for the space is ‘Freedom Walk’,” Clonts said.

Air conditioning units have been installed in the Language and History buildings. Soon, air conditioning will be installed in Barnum Hall and the Music, Administration, Business, English and Art Buildings.

As of right now, Samo is planning Phase 3 of the updated campus plan. This will include two new buildings, the Gold Gym and the Exploration Building, which will take the places of the Drake Pool and the History buildings. This project is hoped to be completed by 2023, after that, the South Gym and Art building will be demolished. We can expect to see a lot of changes coming to Samo within the next three to five years.

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