Construction is underway at Cranston’s Garden City Elementary School, located at 70 Plantation Drive. With the original building demolished and students relocated to Chester W. Barrows Elementary School, the new structure is on time for completion in the spring of 2023.

Dimeo construction is heading the project and is a local business with headquarters out of Providence, Boston and New Haven. According to the company’s website, the Engineering News Record has ranked Dimeo (since 1971) among the Top 100 Construction Managers in the country.

After a month and a half long demolition process and debris removal, Dimeo dug a hole for the school’s foundation in early November; the company finished this stage of the project by compacting the ground to assure no settlement would occur under the building.

Since then, Dimeo finished making ground improvements involving GeoPiers – a type of foundation support needed to reinforce the new base to keep the building standing. This task involved drilling hundreds of holes that were then filled with stone and compacted using a huge rammer. A geotechnical engineer who evaluates soil type, stability and compaction determines positioning the GeoPiers.

According to Edward Collins, who is in charge of the school district’s capital projects, more than 650 GeoPiers have been installed.

As for upcoming work, Cranstonians will see concrete foundation walls rising shortly. According to a question and answer presentation with the schools’ kids in December, Dimeo wrote that the building’s structure would take shape in February or March. Dimeo will then enclose the school by constructing exterior walls and roof, allowing them to work on interior elements.

Currently, the construction site has ten to 15 people working each day, with 15 to 20 individuals working on the project from their offices. According to Dimeo’s question and answer presentation, the number of workers will jump to 100 once the company starts erecting the building. Workers will be there five days a week, putting in eight to ten hours per day.

Now, there are considerable differences between the original building and the new one. According to the project’s Planning Board, the original building’s area, which was just shy of 30,000 square feet, will now expand to an area of 86,2000 square feet. This area includes the basement, ground floor and second floor. Furthermore, the building footprint of the original building was 28,849 square feet while the new one is proposed to be 55,021 square feet.

This additional space will help make room for the 575 students who will spend five days a week in this building; this is approximately 275 more students than the original building held.

In an interview Monday, Mayor Ken Hopkins noted that when completed the new Garden City School would accommodate students from the Daniel D. Waterman School. This is the first step in the development of larger elementary schools and an overall effort to build new schools, he said. The next step is to build a new Gladstone School. Gladstone students would he housed at Chester Barrows and Waterman Schools during the construction.

The upgrade in Cranston schools comes from the school department’s efforts to redesign schools that reflect the digital age and to give students and teachers alike the tools and learning environments they need to be successful in the 21st century.

“The Department of Education requires a certain square footage for classrooms,” said Jennifer Cowart, Communications Specialist at Cranston Public Schools.

Cowart said that new requirements move away from multipurpose rooms, like cafeterias that also function as gymnasiums. Instead, schools should have designated rooms for each of these activities.

The Garden City Elementary School is projected to cost $46 million. According to Dimeo’s question and answer presentation, the Rhode Island Department of Education’s School Building Authority reimburses the city between 54% and 74% of the project cost. As of right now, the building cost has increased due to the pandemic and delivery of materials. It is expected that the amount over will continue to fluctuate as the price and availability of products changes.

Superintendent of Schools Jeannine Nota-Masse said some material delays have caused design changes. For instance, at the project’s beginning, it was difficult to get items such as steel causing alterations in the design plan.

Overall, the new Garden City Elementary School is expected to include the following: An HVAC system that meets and exceeds COVID-19 standards, a main entryway with modern security features, operable windows that meet building codes and allow natural light into the classrooms, small group rooms for collaboration purposes, a new gym, library improved parking and more. The building will also meet all requirements for ADA (Americans with Disabilities act) regulations.

Garden City Elementary School will also accommodate pre-K, which follows Senate Majority Leader Michael McCaffrey’s goal to accelerate universal pre-K in the next five years. The previous building did offer pre-K (and is accessible in four other Cranston schools) and is another way in which the school department is bringing education into the 21st century.

As for recycling efforts, another facility removed demolition debris and plans to sell reusable content to whatever industries needed the scraps. Dimeo has already filled 50 dumpsters and will likely fill many more throughout the project. Additionally, the previous school’s furniture has been re-purposed, with some desks and chairs now used at Chester W. Barrows Elementary School for the influx of Garden City Elementary School students; the items also act as replacements for any broken furniture. Lastly, while Dimeo has removed 17 trees to make room for the new school, the company will plant 31 trees to take their place.

On Jan. 11, Garden City Elementary School will host a furniture unveiling at Chester W. Barrows Elementary School. The Natural Pod company will reveal the new furniture that students and faculty can use once the school opens. Students were involved in the school’s rebuilding process and helped with a lot of design elements, such as furniture.

With a lot to look forward to, the Garden City Elementary School project is certainly coming along.