Jupiter Christian School - Jupiter, Florida
By: Frances Putman
Jupiter Christian School in Jupiter, Florida, moved to its current location, situated on seven acres in a residential neighborhood near the center of town, in 1967. For nearly 40 years, the facility served the school well, needing only minor updates and repairs to keep it operating smoothly. But then Hurricane Frances came through town in 2004, taking out the main classroom building and disrupting the lives of everyone at Jupiter Christian.
School leaders scrambled to house students after the hurricane, placing some in leased, portable units on the campus and others in temporary classrooms at a nearby church.
In a typical construction project, a school might take months, or even years, to plan out all the details. But in this case, everything had to speed up several notches. The main goal was to have all the students back together in the school building by the beginning of the next school year.
School leaders recognized this as a good opportunity to expand the facility and allow for future growth. The original 13,000-square-foot, one-story classroom building was replaced with a two-story, 51,000-square-foot building, which also could house administrative offices.
Along with the architect, The Morganti Group was chosen as the construction manager. By the time representatives from The Morganti Group arrived onsite, portable classrooms had been “shoe-horned” in around the campus, wherever there was space. While it was a workable solution, it made the removal of the old building and the construction of the new one a bit of a challenge.
“Basically, what was going on was we had 600 kids, in some cases 15 feet away from where work was taking place,” recalled Jim Peace, operations manager for the Southeast regional office of The Morganti Group. “It was a very congested site. Planning and making sure there were no safety issues was a key part of the job.”
Fencing and even some solid concrete barriers were erected to separate the worksite from the rest of the school and to reduce the noise level. Some especially loud work was scheduled for after-school hours, and the construction team worked closely with the school to avoid interrupting classes, especially when testing was taking place.
As soon as classes were over in May, workers moved into high gear. Portable classrooms and administrative offices were removed, and the parking lots were demolished. New underground utilities were installed, along with the new parking lot.
They had just 10 weeks to get everything completed before students returned for a new school year.
“Normally, a project like this takes about 10 months,” Peace said. “It was a matter of great satisfaction that we completed this one on essentially the same schedule.”
The new classroom building at Jupiter Christian School was built using tilt wall construction, which is very typical in Florida. Instead of constructing block walls, a form is placed on the ground, and concrete panels are poured. Once the main floor slab for the building was completed, it was used as a casting bed for the rest of the tilt wall panels.
“This costs less than block and gets the building up faster,” noted Peace.
While he is quick to point out that this facility was not constructed to serve as a hurricane shelter, it is significantly stronger than the building it replaced. It is made to withstand the elements better than before.
The potential of future hurricanes influenced the choice of windows for the school. A typical choice is to install traditional windows along with hurricane shutters. For this project, however, impact-resistant windows were selected instead. They cost more, but are more attractive and less costly in the long run.
“To test these windows, they take 2x4s and shoot them at the window at 250 miles per hour,” Peace said. “It’s impressive to see them just bounce off. The windows have to be replaced after that, but there is no penetration.”
While not every school in the country will need hurricane-resistant windows, each school does have its own specific needs. These are the kinds of options architects and project managers can work out in the planning stage, according to Peace.
In fact, whether schools have years or months to plan a building project or just a few weeks, the planning stage could be the most important step in the process.
“I’ve been doing this for 35 years, and, in almost every case, what makes a project successful starts back at the planning stage,” he said.
As a construction manager, being able to meet with the owner and architect helps make the construction process flow more smoothly and saves the owner a lot of money in the long run.
“Hire your architect and construction manager as early as you can and plan, plan, plan,” he advised.
Every issue that can be dealt with in the planning stage could save money down the road.
The Morganti Group, www.morganti.com, founded in 1920 by John Morganti, is an international large construction manager with offices in Danbury, Connecticut, West Palm Beach, Florida and Houston, Texas, as well as satellite offices in other cities.
Fast Facts
School: Jupiter Christian School
Location: Jupiter, Florida
Student Body: 600 students
Grades Served: K3-12
Project Goal: Replace classroom building destroyed in a hurricane with a larger, more-efficient facility
Size: 51,000 square feet
Cost: $9.6 million
Challenge: After the hurricane, students were moved into portable classrooms on the school site, which already was fairly tight. Since it was essential that construction go on during the school year, this meant construction was taking place during school hours, sometimes 15 feet away from students in portable classrooms.
Solution: Fencing and even some solid barrier walls were constructed for safety, and work was scaled back or halted on school-wide testing days. As soon as school was out for the summer, the portable classrooms were removed, and the construction team worked quickly to have everything completed in time for school to open.
