Construction of the new Gilles-Sweet Elementary School will begin in April 2006. (Image courtesy of Architectural Vision Group, Ltd.)

Gemini planners announce construction schedule
By Kevin Kelley
Fairview Park
Published April 13, 2005

As former CBS anchorman Dan Rather might have put it, the Feb. 8 vote approving the Gemini Project was "as tight as the rusted lug nuts on a '55 Ford."

The municipal portion of the city-school project — a .5 percent increase in the city income tax to build a recreation center — passed by only 59 votes out of 5,693 ballots cast.

But it did pass, and city officials are eager to get the work started.

Ground will be broken for the new rec center on April 1, 2006, construction managers for the city and school district announced Thursday. Work should be completed by October 2007.

Fred Kelly of Kelly Construction Management Associates Inc., construction manager for the city's portion of Gemini, and Tari Rivera, president of Regency Construction Services, which is managing the school district's portion of the project, unveiled the timeline for the various components of the Gemini Project at Thursday's public meeting at City Hall.

Kelly emphasized his company and Regency will act as partners throughout the construction period. They are working together on important aspects of the project, he said, such as the master budget and schedule.

Regency has a more difficult job than his company, Kelly said, because it must renovate Fairview High School and Mayer Middle School while students are still using the school, he said.

"It's a lot easier to build a new building than renovate an existing one," he said.

Work on the high school and middle school will take place between June 2006 and December 2007.

Demolition of Gilles-Sweet Elementary School will begin Aug. 1 of this year. Construction of the new school on the same site will begin in April of 2006. Students in grades kindergarten through five will move into the new building in the fall of 2007.

A state-of-the-art artificial turf will replace the grass at the high school athletic field this summer, Kelly said, and be ready for the fall sports season. Next summer, additional improvements to the field will be made, including new seating, a new concession stand and a storage facility.

The city's tennis courts, which must be removed from the high school site to make way for the rec center, will be moved to Morton Park this summer, Kelly added.

Both construction companies are committed to spending as much project money as possible within Fairview Park to benefit the city's economy, Kelly said.

"We're bending over backward ... to include our contracting community here in Fairview Park," he said.

Gemini Project Committee member Joyce Gusman reported there are plans for an open house at the old Gilles-Sweet School before it is demolished. Historical items and other memorabilia from the school will be collected and auctioned off to benefit the district's capital improvement fund, she said.

"We're in the process of purchasing the property through negotiations," Mayor Eileen Patton said at Thursday's meeting.

At its April 4 meeting, city council placed on first reading a resolution "declaring the necessity and intention to appropriate property" needed to complete the Gemini Project.

Patton told West Life the resolution was introduced "just to have the necessary legislation in place in case we have to acquire the land by eminent domain."

"An agreement has not been reached at this point but we're still in discussions with (the owner)," Patton said.

The mayor said the resolution was not intended to place pressure on the trailer park owner.

"It's just a piece to prepare us because we're on a timeline," she said.

The trailer park's owner, Elias Kafantaris, did not return phone calls seeking comment.