Construction underway at Edison school destroyed by fire

• The new building is two-stories with about 62,000-square-feet
• The cafeteria and library are along the front of the building
• The design has a lot of natural light, said Superintendent of Schools Richard O'Malley

EDISON - Visible from the corner of Ann Winters' Harmon Road home is the large two-story brick and metal structure that will open this fall as the new James Monroe Elementary School, replacing the school destroyed in a six-alarm fire two years ago.

This is the second time Winters has seen the Sharp Road school take shape. She was a young girl when the original school was built in the 1960s.

"It's interesting to see it go up twice. Now to see the two stories, it's a little different, but otherwise it's been no problem, even with all the trucks going by," Winters said. "It should be nice."

The new school is on target to be completed in mid-August, just in time to welcome the 453 students in kindergarten to fifth grade back to their neighborhood school for the Sept. 6 first day of class. For the last two years the students have been bused to the former St. Cecelia's School in the Iselin section of Woodbridge.

"There is a significant amount of work that has been accomplished," said Superintendent of Schools Richard O'Malley during a tour last week of the building, just days before the second anniversary of the March 22, 2014 fire.

A positive outlook

O'Malley said he's always looked at the loss of the school as an opportunity.

'"I clearly remember the day when I stood in front of hundreds of those parents and TV cameras and said your kids are going to college and for free," he said referring to the agreement reached just days after the fire to temporarily house the school at the Middlesex County College campus in Edison. "That set the tone that we're going to make the best of this opportunity. Ultimately the district benefited by getting a brand-new school."

O'Malley said the district had an aggressive timeline for  the school to be completed in July.

"But we're probably looking at a more realistic timeline of mid-August," said O'Malley, adding he hopes to have a more exact timeline next month.

Due to the good weather, most of the brick work is complete and other outdoor work has moved along. He said the roof has been completed except for a membrane that makes it water tight. Temporary windows are currently in place.

"It's allowed us to do a lot of work on the inside," he said.

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He said the windows are scheduled to be installed the first week in April, and once that is done and the building can be enclosed, more of the interior work, like the wall board, tile work and painting, will get underway and should move rapidly.

Standing in front of the building, O'Malley said most notable is the building's size. The former school was a one-story building measuring about 40,000-square feet. The new building is two-stories with about 62,000-square-feet.

"That's the library that kind of pops out," said O'Malley pointing to a section along the front of the building.

The cafeteria also is along the front of the building, as well as a separate entrance on the far right of the building that will be used for access to the three half-day session kindergarten classrooms. He said the separate entrance is designed to avoid interrupting students in the rest of the school. The playground also is near the kindergarten entrance.

Entering the building, the framing for the main office is on the right.

Preserving a piece of school history

While a new building is going up, it will still have a small piece of the former structure: brick from the original school that had the lettering for James Monroe School has been saved and will be featured in the main entrance.

"It's a real nice feature. We wanted to maintain some of the history of it," said O'Malley.

Off to the left of the main entrance is a stairway to the second floor.

O'Malley said most of the rough work has been done, including electrical, plumbing and the HVAC. The entire school will be air conditioned. He said part of the school also will be hooked up to generators for use as a community school. The building also will be equipped with fire sprinklers, the first in the district.

"Given with what we dealt with with (Superstorm) Sandy we would be able to use the cafeteria and the gym area, it would sort of be a shelter in place," he said.

Toward the left rear section of the building is where the gymnasium is being built. The footprint for the building is the same as the former school, except for the gym which did not previously exist.

"It has a stage area. It's a good-sized gym," he said, adding the top walls of the gym will feature a type of opaque glass that lets light in. That work is expected to get underway next week.

Also in Edison: Menlo Park Mall celebrates major renovation

Adjacent to the gym are vocal music and instrumental music rooms. Those rooms have access to the stage for performances.

O'Malley said new kitchen equipment installed at St. Cecelia's School when Edison students started there will be moved to the new building. Adjacent to the kitchen is a large cafeteria with big windows.

"You'll see in the design, a lot of natural light," he said.

The first floor also features a teacher's room, bathrooms, guidance counselor's office, art room, principal's office, small group room, five first-grade classroom, five secon- grade classrooms and the three kindergarten classrooms.

The first floor also includes a large outdoor open space area. He hopes the school and community will develop plans for that area.

O'Malley said the cost for the school is on budget with $19.6 million funded as part of a settlement with the New Jersey School Insurance Group. The district had architectural and other costs covered by the school budget.

"There are very few change orders that have been approved. We have to be on budget," he said

The second floor features 15 classrooms, five each for students in the third, fourth and fifth grades, as well as bathrooms, teacher's room  and a library/media room. He said all the students have access to computers. The library also will have books and places for students to work in groups. A skylight is located in the ceiling of the second floor.

Under the lease agreement for use of St. Cecelia's School, the district would be forced to pay $1.8 million to the Diocese of Metuchen if the James Monroe School is not ready for students at the start of the 2016-17 school year and students have to remain at the former parochial school for another year.

Other district projects  

James Monroe School isn't the only district building under construction. An addition with eight classrooms, a gymnasium and music room is being built at the Menlo Park Elementary School on Monroe Avenue. Like James Monroe, the Menlo Park School construction also is slated to be completed in time for the start of the 2016-17 school year. That project is being funded through the budget. The school houses more than 850 students.

O'Malley said Woodbrook Elementary School is the district's largest with more than 1,000 students, about 34 in each classroom. He said environmental tests at that school delayed plans for an addition there. The school board is expected to award a contract for the addition in July. The work is expected to include gymnasium, cafeteria and many classrooms.

"We're growing steadily," he said, adding the district currently has about 15,250 students. The largest school with about 2,250 students is JP Stevens High School where another addition is being planned.

While the district has moved forward, Jerome Higgins of East Brunswick, the former James Monroe School facilities manager, still has unresolved legal issues connected to the fire.

Higgins was checking on the school on March 22, 2014 when, according to a police investigation, he allegedly tossed an unfinished cigarette in the custodian's office where it apparently caught fire and the flames spread throughout the school. Higgins was fined $200 in September 2014 for smoking at the school.

Higgins is the subject of a restitution hearing in Edison Municipal Court scheduled for May 17, according to the municipal court office.

Staff Writer Suzanne Russell: 732-565-7335; srussell@mycentraljersey.com 

James Monroe School by the numbers 

Construction cost -  $19.6 million 

Construction timeline - 15 months 

Floors in school - 2 

Classrooms - 3 for kindergarten, and 5 classrooms each for first grade, second grade, third grade, fourth grade and fifth grade 

Other key features - 1 gymnasium, 1 cafeteria, generator system, air conditioning, fire sprinkler system.

Cost to district if school is not completed on time - $1.8 million