Construction of the new E. Rivers Elementary School is on target for its 2015 opening.
Major progress has been made since the start of construction, with the construction and design team now in the steel erection phase of the project. If you drive by the school via Peachtree Road or Peachtree Battle, you will now see the structure coming together. The concrete slab on the ground floors is installed and crews are now working on the upper levels. Once complete, this will be the third school built on this same property.
Accomplishments this spring include:
• Continued Structural Steel Erection, included Roof Decking
• Completed Rough-In for Classroom Mock-Up
• Continued Lower & Main Level Framing
• Began Upper Level Framing Layout
• Completion of Retaining Walls D & E
• Continued Lower Level CMU Installation
• Above Ceiling MEP on Lower Level
Upcoming items:
• Structural Steel erection, including roof decking & stairs
• Mezzanine slab pours
• Continue lower level CMU masonry
• Cold-formed steel framing Lower, Main, Upper Levels
• Continue Structeavent installation
• Overhead MEP at Lower & Main Level
E. Rivers is one of the oldest public schools in the city of Atlanta. The school was originally named Peachtree Heights and was built in 1917 on land donated by Atlanta developer Eretus Rivers. In honor of Mr. River’s service to the community and Board of Education the school was renamed E. Rivers Elementary School in 1926. Because of the school’s strong historic background, there are plans to salvage and implement notable memorabilia into the new design. Construction Superintendent Arthur Cofelice said that his team is working with the architect to relocate all of the monuments, plaques, a memorial tree and the original E. Rivers Lion into the new school.
Sitting on the corner of a busy intersection, traffic and safety has played an essential role in designing the new school. “We’ve got a lot of buses and cars to get on the site and we always like to separate the car traffic and the bus traffic for safety,” said Atlanta Public School’s Director of Capital Improvement, Jere Smith. He added that they were able to add a bus drop off and a car pool lane with a cuing area on opposite sides of the building in order to get the cars off of Peachtree Battle as much as possible.
At approximately 112,000 square feet, the new E. Rivers will be larger than the previous construction and built to provide more usable space for students and staff. “We based this project on projections which are looking to increase over the next few years,” said Atlanta Public School’s Project Manager Danny Gutlay. “Currently the school has about 700 students. The new school will allow capacity for 900 students.”
Th new build will not only be safer and more spacious but will enhance the learning environment by providing an outdoor learning lab as well as better acoustics. “In the interior we are enhancing the acoustics so that the kids can hear better. If they can hear better they can learn better and the teachers won’t have to fight over internal noise or external noise,” said Collins Cooper Carusi architect Margarita Perez. “The outdoor learning lab is a space that we created to provide an environment that can be used for science, art and any other programs where nature will play a part in the students learning.”
The project is slated for completion in its entirety by December of this year, with the doors opening for students in January of 2015.
