Pace accelerating on H.D. Cooke modernization

Here's the latest from the H.D. Cooke Elementary School modernization project.

As you can see, the giant rainwater collection cistern (tank) has been buried under the parking lot area next to Mozart place.

We hope to bring you some short video clips as we tour the building-in-progress.

Aerial view of H.D.Cooke Modernization

This is a recent aerial view of the H.D. Cooke Elementary School Modernization Project. The view is from the northeast corner of the site, looking west at the back of the school and over 17th Street. Visible at the bottom center is a long tan shape, the rainwater collection cistern, soon to be buried under the parking lot. Above that is a gray oval which is about where the new Gymnasium/Auditorium and Cafeteria will be. The bright blue rectangle in the center of the old building is the original skylight over the old Auditorium, which will now be the Library/Media Center. The skylight will be restored to illuminate the magnificent two-story (with balconies!) Media Center. The South Playground, the tan area at upper center, has been cleared and for now is being used for materials storage and crew parking. Later it will be excavated for the basketball court and street-level access to Euclid Street.

Rainwater collection system!

A giant underground rainwater collection tank, or cistern, has been installed under the future parking lot of Cooke School.  Rain runoff from the roof will be collected, stored in the cistern and used to irrigate the vegetation around the school.  This reduces the need to use city-supplied water, and reduces the rapid runoff after rains that can carry pollutants into the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay.

New Views of Cooke Modernization

Here are some new progress photos by ANC1C06 Commissioner Nancy Shia; these guys are crankin!  Photo #1 is looking south from the back of the old (1908) building toward the 1959 addition.  One bank of windows has been removed to allow for modifications - we'll get back to you on what's going on after we talk to Tony Barton, Project Manager for Gilbane Building Company.  Tony will be our contact over the next 15 months to keep us informed, give us advance notice of any traffic or parking arrangements, and answer questions about our little school.

Photo #2 is looking north on the 17th Street side; it shows the front of the 1908 building where the new ADA-compatible front entrance will be added at street level, just north of the existing basement classroom doors.

Major construction is underway!

Major construction is underway - asbestos was removed and exterior brickwork was repaired while plans were made to replace the connection between the original (1909/1922) sections of the school and the 1959 addition.  Someone in their infinite wisdom had decided to build the addition half-a-floor below the old building, so there was an awkward connecting stairway that needed to be replaced to include an elevator to provide ADA access to the entire modernized facility.

In the photo at right, looking north, the building on the right (with the hole where the stairs used to be) is the 1959 addition, the left building is the 1922 addition, and straight ahead is part of the original 1909 school.   A History of Architecture lesson all in one photo!

To connect the existing parts of the school with each other and to the new CafeGymnaTorium* on ground level, there will be glass-roofed all-weather walkways, like streets, maybe even with street names! 

*CafeGymnaTorium - Technical term for the combination Cafeteria-Gymnasium-Auditorium 

Start here - a little background info

   H.D. Cooke Elementary School, in the Adams Morgan section of Washington, DC, is at the beginning of an 18-month modernization project that will totally transform the historic school, just in time to reopen on its 100th birthday in Summer 2009.  In 1999 the school was awarded the dubious distinction of Worst Elementary School Facility out of 105 elementary schools in the DC Public Schools system.

   Modernization was supposed to start in 2003, but problems within the old DCPS system and the DC Government delayed the project.   The original modernization architects literally left town a few years ago, and a new team consisting of Quinn Evans Architects and Gilbane Construction Management took over in 2007.  The good news is that Quinn Evans and Gilbane are a proven team and one of the best at school renovation.

  

Quinn Evans specializes in 'Sustainable Preservation'; that is,

taking a sound historic building, upgrading the structure and the mechanical systems (heating/cooling, electric, water, communications) to create a healthy, energy-efficient, environment-friendly place for teachers to teach and children to learn.

More good news is that the new DC City Administration headed by Mayor Adrian Fenty, new Public Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee, and the new DC Office of Public Education Facilities Modernization, with Allen Lew as Director, have committed to building and renovating schools to meet the requirements of the US Green Building Council's 'LEED-Schools' rating system, with a minimum rating of 'LEED-Schools Silver'.   This means that the modernized schools will achieve very good air quality, lighting and acoustics, energy efficiency and water conservation, as well as recycling facilities and other environmentally-responsible 'green' features.