McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has been awarded the new $24-million Jack Lowe, Sr. Elementary School and Vickery Meadows Middle School for the Dallas Independent School District (DISD). Construction on this new, two-school project began in May and is expected to be completed in June 2006.
Jack Lowe, Sr. Elementary School is named for the community leader who helped draft the Dallas School desegregation plan adopted by the federal courts and who played a key role in the creation of the DISD Adopt-a-School program. A final name for Vickery Meadows Middle School has not yet been decided.
The 218,000-square-foot project encompasses two schools within one building. The elementary and middle schools will share some amenities, but will be two separate facilities with separate entrances from adjacent streets. The two-school facility will feature a concrete-pier foundation, structural steel framing, and a brick veneer exterior highlighted by stucco and metal panels.
"Pre-planning is key to success in a project like this one," said McCarthy Project Director James Leppo. "Completing a $24-million project in 12 months is a challenging opportunity. Pre-planning all stages of this job and then working the plan is the key to success."
McCarthy is staging delivery of pre-fabricated materials to speed project completion. Models of the sequenced construction process have been developed to demonstrate McCarthy's plan-ahead process to all parties involved. These scaled models also aid in preventing construction site management and scheduling challenges.
The architect for the project is Brown Reynolds Watford Architects, Inc. of Dallas, and program manager is Jacobs/Pegasus of Dallas. This is McCarthy's third project currently under way for DISD. McCarthy is also constructing the new $40-million Emmett J. Conrad High School in Dallas and completing the $9-million renovation of Sunset High School.