Around a year ago, at WIS’s Tregaron campus, the designated area for the construction of the new science building, Le Centre Brown, was not much more than some steel poles and wooden walls. Now, as students and faculty pass by the site, they are met with an actual building expected to be finished by the end of the summer before the next academic year.
As major progress has been made, the construction Project Manager, Elias Eid, has been overseeing every detail of the process.
“[Project managers] buy the materials, the equipment, the manpower, [they] make sure everything is working right and [they] make sure that everyone is working together to get to our end goal, which is building a project on time, on schedule and within the budget,” Eid said.
Since the last time International Dateline spoke with Eid in April of 2024, he has now been able to see more than just walls and a roof. At this point, the team has achieved what they had aimed to have completed by this time and is currently focusing on the exterior work.
“Last time, we were pushing to close it out so we [could] start doing inside work, like the ceilings,” Eid said. “So that’s what we are pushing for mainly now, when you will walk around, you will see you have all the finishes getting started, which is the floors, the paint, [etc.]”
Eid describes the work the team is doing now as needing attention and precision. By the next two weeks, the goal is to be able to finish with the rough work, such as working with welding and bending rebar, and clean up the site from all the excess material and waste.
“We call it the delicate finishing work,” Eid said. “So now we have to be very attentive on how we are putting things.”
One of the key issues that Eid discussed last time with the construction process at Tregaron was, and still is, bringing in materials. While this obstacle has been partly addressed through coordination with school security and by avoiding “blackout hours” — the times when students, parents, or faculty are actively passing by, such as during drop-off and pick-up — it is not as intense a concern at this phase.
“We call them blackout hours because those are times where you got [the] parents dropping [students’] off and picking [them] back up,” he said. “So if we get deliveries, and big bulk deliveries, this is gonna cue the line, make your process longer. We are in coordination on a daily basis with your security team and with the school.”
Moreover, Eid ensures that the necessities and work of the team take into account any important dates on WIS’s schedule to avoid any disruptions.
“We work with the school, [regarding] any events they have,” Eid said. “We ask [Director of Facilities and Operations Dale Temple], the principal, everyone, to please give us your schedule, even [the students’] exam days.”
In the past, the materials, such as concrete, needed to be brought to the Tregaron campus with larger trucks that struggled to enter from Macomb St. However, Eid and the team no longer need such materials.
“So mainly the issue now is just to [supervise] the deliveries [of, for example,] casework,” Eid said. “So what we need to make sure is to tell all these people that, instead of getting them in a big truck, get them in small trucks and pickups.”
Another persisting obstacle the volatility of weather conditions. As always, they address various situations ahead of time by checking the weather forecast and planning around it, whether it concerns the conditions for the workers, the delivery of materials, or the construction itself.
“If you have high temperatures, you want to make sure your guys are hydrated, especially if they are working outside,” he said. “And if you have rain, you cannot put that mortar that the stone is getting fixed on because it won’t dry off and won’t make it strong, and it will affect the mix of your mortar. So weather is always something [to consider], even if you’re doing finishes.”
Beyond the building itself, there are several other smaller projects that the team has, including finalizing the Dacha’s new space, bringing back the field, developing a new grill canopy and adding the Four Square Garden. In an attempt to move along faster and have fewer things to accomplish during the summer, the team is currently working on some of these aspects in conjunction with the building.
“We are trying to take away some of [the] work to keep up with the schedule and make it [go by] faster,” he said. “And the school is happy because we are shrinking as [many items] from the schedule and making them see stuff that we can get done, and we are planning to get done.”
In the end, all these smaller additions will be alongside Le Centre Brown in presenting the final product of the Destination WIS initiative.
“It’s all small pieces, but at the end, you will see them all bonding together,” Eid said.
In addition to the construction work, Eid shares how it is great to see more people learning, visiting and being involved in the development of the project. In the end, his and the the group’s efforts are for the school and its community.
“You’re building something that you want people to enjoy at the end of the day,” Eid said. “So it’s always a pleasure to see people walking around and enjoying what they are seeing and how happy and interested and involved they are in every decision-making that we need to do on this project.”
On a final note, Eid expresses his excitement to see the vision for the building come to life. From his perspective, the many facilities and changes that it brings are captivating.
In addition to the construction work and logistical considerations, Eid shares how it is great to see more people learning, visiting and being involved in the process of developing the project that will shape the WIS experience.
“It’s always nice to see people [from the WIS community] around, because, [in] the end, that’s [who we] are building for,” Eid said. “At the end of the day, [we] are building for your school, for your community.”
By Selena Said
