MacArthur High in Irving gets portable rooms

[TexasStooge]

With gym's problems, having facilities ready in time will be difficult

By RUSSELL RIAN / The Dallas Morning News

IRVING, Texas - Workers dropped portable classrooms onto the tennis courts at MacArthur High School this week, and monitoring devices began tracking any movement of a gymnasium roof, which engineers say is in danger of eventually collapsing.

Workers still need to add a few more portables, get them hooked up with electricity and public address systems, and have them inspected in time for the start of classes Tuesday.

"It's going to be very close," said Scott Layne, the district's executive director of facilities.

Officials learned last month that damage to the spectator gym would require it and a bank of nearby classrooms to be shuttered for at least the first couple months of school, prompting a quick hustle for about a dozen replacement classrooms.

The portable classrooms will leave about six courts for tennis. Volleyball and football practices have been moved to other locations, and coaches are now discussing possibilities for rescheduling basketball home games.

Officials were able to get some needed athletic equipment out but have not yet been inside to remove computers and other office equipment, Mr. Layne said. Officials are still hoping to get that accomplished before school starts as well.

In addition to the portables, some permanent fencing that blocks access to the gym and some additional patrols assigned to keep away curiosity seekers, students arriving Tuesday shouldn't be affected. Entrances and exits for the school are the same, as is parking for teachers and students, officials said.

MacArthur, built in the mid-1960s, was undergoing a nearly $12 million face-lift that included repaving the parking lots, beefing up the cafeteria and fixing the gym, when workers discovered that the gymnasium problems were more substantial than initially thought.

Measurements of how much the gym roof is shifting should be completed by the end of the week, giving officials a better sense of how extensive repairs will need to be, Mr. Layne said. Preliminary guesses ranged from $1.5 million for repairs to $4 million to replace the building. Those measurements are also needed to determine when workers can go in.

Officials hope to update trustees Monday at their regular board meeting. The work session will begin at noon, and the evening meeting is at 7 p.m. at the administration building, 2621 Airport Freeway.