Construction workers press on at CV High

LA CRESCENTA — The drone of construction at Crescenta Valley High School gave way to crews moving on-site temporary classrooms as work on repairing another water-damaged building began.

Construction began on Building 1000 about a month ago, and now workers are on to Building 6000, near the gym that housed the weight room. The repairs are pegged to shoddy construction during a $41-million remodeling project financed by the voter-approved Measure K bond.

The original construction was completed in 2002, but heavy rains caused leaks in several buildings. A review of the construction commissioned by the Glendale Unified School District found windows with gaps between the frames and the structures, as well as cracks in the plaster walls that were visible on the exterior of the buildings.

The leaks caused water damage to seep between the exterior and interior walls, which created a breeding ground for mold. Buildings 1000, 5000, 6000 and 7000 were affected. The district has estimated the repairs at $8 million and is now in litigation with several of the contractors that worked at the school during the original construction.

“We are still taking depositions,” said John Fenton, Glendale Unified’s administrator of planning, development and facilities, adding that the civil trial was planned for October.

After repairs on Building 5000 were completed in December, the now infamous green tarps moved to Building 7000, which was completed in June. During the construction, temporary classrooms were positioned in the staff parking lot at the corner of Ramsdell and Community avenues, and in the MacDonald Auditorium parking lot.

Crews moved away the first set of temporary buildings on Thursday and plan to have those at Ramsdell and Community avenues moved out next week. Those in the auditorium lot will stay in place until the completion of the repairs to Building 6000 sometime near year’s end.

Once the parking lots are restored, Associate Principal Chris Coulter warned the relaxed parking restrictions along Community Avenue will tightened.

“We do have some work to do. The lot has to be repaved because workers had to drill into the asphalt,” Coulter said.

There are four classrooms in Building 1000 that will be affected by the latest round of construction, but school officials have found alternatives on campus, Fenton said.