January Update

Through frigid cold weather, the construction team is pressing to get the bulk of the structure complete (i.e. floors, walls, and roof). The Insulated Concrete Form (ICF) wall crews have begun working on the second floor walls in the Middle School wing. The steel crews are applying the roof decking on the library. The brick masons are laying brick on both the dinning hall and the library. In extremely cold weather, brick mortar will not cure in the frigid temperatures. Therefore, the masons have to erect a temporary cover with scaffolding, sheet plastic, and space heaters. Though the cold temperatures make working conditions less than optimal, the men and women of the Learning Village workforce continue to work from sun up to sun down with great resolve and an encouraging spirit.

December Update

December was off to a good start with the construction team working its way out of the wet November. The roof trusses for the library and part of the Lower School were set; the concrete for the second floor of the Middle School was placed; and the brick work on the dinning hall had begun. Then came December 19. Along with the rest of Charlottesville, the jobsite was hammered with 22 inches of snow. English had men on site on Monday to begin plowing the roads at the Lower School. Once access to the jobsite was reopened, the subcontractors who could get out of their own homes arrived on site ready to work. Unfortunately, most had to shovel snow for days to access their respected areas of the jobsite. A week of progress was lost due to the blizzard of 2009.

November Update

November 2009 was the fourth wettest November in 75 years. This had ill effects on the construction site. Concrete placements, site work (earth-moving), and masonry work were all negatively effected. Though time was lost due to weather, we were still able to get started on the brick work on the outside of the theater building. The second floor in the elementary school wing and the north end of the first floor of the Middle School wing were placed. Structural steel was erected in Middle School along with the support system for the second floor.

October Update

The workforce in October concentrated on finishing the foundation work for the Middle School wing, erecting second-story theater walls, and laying stone on the Conway Convocation Center entrance road retaining wall. The stone retaining wall along the backside of the outfield fence was completed using a West Virginia Field Stone.

September Update

September brought very good working conditions: long sunny days and warm temperatures. English and their workforce were able to achieve three main accomplishments. First, we completed the Field Turf girls' lacrosse field. Next, the geothermal vault was buried. This is a distribution hub where all of piping that runs through the 140 geothermal wells is consolidated into one pipe leading into the building. Finally, AG Dilliard installed a temporary parking lot across the street from the lacrosse field to accommodate parking for construction vehicles and football and lacrosse parking.

Summer Construction Update

Recent visitors to the lower campus will notice the vast amount of progress that builders have made this summer at the site of the Learning Village. In addition to the completion of our new turf field, 110 wells were dug as part of the geothermal HVAC systetm, and a 75,000 gallon cistern was installled ot capture roof runoff. As the foundation for our new building rises, so too does our excitement! For a live view of the construction site, please click here.

So what's with all the dirt?

Driving by the lower campus, many of you have noticed the large mound of dirt at the construction site. So, what’s with all the dirt? Well, we’re glad you asked. Quite a bit of dirt must be removed from the site as the hill where the old Head’s House once stood needs to be lowered about 8 - 10 feet in preparation for the new building. The dirt will not be needed as fill in any other area of the construction site, so it needs to go somewhere. The University of Virginia has agreed to allow us to move the dirt from the construction site to their property across the road. Moving dirt sounds easy, but it’s not that simple. If you fill dirt on top of the grass and vegetation, it will start to decompose thereby leaving a void. To avoid the void, you must first remove the top layer of the soil (including grass and vegetation) and pile it to the side. That is the great mound you see now. Once all the dirt has been moved, you replace the top layer including vegetation on top to reseed and replant the area.