CHANDLER, Ariz.—Architect Orcutt | Winslow and general contractor McCarthy Building Companies have reached the topping-out stage at Galveston Elementary School, part of the Chandler Unified School District. Personnel from the district and construction team were on hand for this goalpost moment, where students, staff and invited guests signed a ceremonial beam, which was then hoisted into place atop the phase I construction of the $32-million, 81,000-square-foot expansion.

Phase I entails a 53,000-square-foot classroom building, 21,000-square-foot gymnasium facility and a 7,000-square-foot administration building. The classroom building entails 31 classrooms, each of which will include large-format TVs, as well as grade-appropriate book collections in lieu of a centralized library or media center, and an amphitheater. The building will also be home to a cafeteria—with doors that can roll up during optimal weather for indoor-outdoor dining—and a multipurpose room that can be utilized for various public events.

The buildout commenced in September, and is being constructed on top of Galveston Elementary’s former playground. The new buildings will have card reader access as an added security measure.

The second phase of work, due to commence this fall, entails tearing down the original school building from 1963 and fashioning new playgrounds and athletic fields. Phase II is due for completion in the spring of 2025. The school will then be able to educate 750 students, up from the current complement of around 400 in grades K-6.

At the topping-out ceremony, CUSD Superintendent Frank Narducci called Galveston Elementary a “very special community,” and said the newer buildings will make it even stronger.

“For families and the staff, this school has been an anchor in the neighborhood and city for decades, so this rebuild marks a huge milestone in the school’s history,” Narducci said. “This rebuild will be state-of-the-art and feature learning spaces that allow students and staff to work and learn collaboratively and independently.”

“There has been much to celebrate at Galveston Elementary this year,” added Andrea Ramos, McCarthy Southwest Education Group project director for the construction work. “Not only did the school recently receive an ‘A Grade’ rating, but the campus renovation project marked the major construction milestone of topping out with students, faculty and staff leaving their handprints and names on the final beam, which will forever be part of the Galveston Elementary campus.”

“It has been an absolute honor to work on the Reimagined Galveston Elementary School design project,” said Saravanan Bala, Orcutt | Winslow managing partner. “The District’s vision [shaped] this innovative, community-service focused replacement school.”

Orcutt | Winslow and McCarthy both operate from local offices in Phoenix.

“We couldn’t be prouder to be helping transform the campus into a 21st century learning facility and positively impacting students’ lives for decades to come,” said Ramos.

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PHOENIX—Staff members of general contractor McCarthy Building Companies and architect Orcutt | Winslow joined staff from the Glendale Union High School District to salute the topping out of the second phase of construction work at Sunnyslope High School. The event featured the final beam being placed atop the frame of the three-story building.

Phase 2 commenced in May of 2022. Among the initial necessary work to prep the site were demolition of older buildings on the campus to make way for the three-story, 100,000-square-foot classroom structure. That building will entail over 40 classrooms as well as a library, art education rooms and science laboratories. Additional work for McCarthy and Orcutt | Winslow encompasses revising Sunnyslope’s athletic facilities, including applying new turf on the football field and renovating the school’s baseball and softball fields. The firms will also resurface the running track, as well as install new spectator bleachers.

McCarthy completed Phase 1 work in only seven months, allowing the new spaces to open in time for the 2021-2022 school year. That work included buildout of a 72,000-square-foot classroom entailing 33 classrooms as well spaces set aside for the student ROTC program and choir and band instruction.

Phase 2 is anticipated to be finished in time for this fall. Funds for the updates to the Sunnyslope High School campus were approved by voters in 2020.

McCarthy’s subcontractors on the project include Procon Professional Concrete, Mark’s Valley Grading, Hawkeye Electrical, Sunburst Landscaping, Sun Valley Masonry, MKB/Capture, Graywolf, Midstate Mechanical and Pete King Construction.

Brandon Gonzalez, project manager for McCarthy, said that the topping out marks a major milestone in his team’s work at Sunnyslope. Next up, the contractor told �鶹������ that his experts will shift to MEP systems and the building enclosure itself.

“Within these next activities come challenges to mitigate water infiltration, start-up and commissioning of MEP systems, and remaining site work activities,” Gonzalez said. “Our team is consistently pre-planning these activities to reach a safe and on-time completion for our client.”

Added Antonya Williams, who leads the education services team with McCarthy: “The excitement on campus over the past two years as students, faculty and staff have watched the campus transform and experience the new classrooms completed with Phase 1 has been energizing.

“Achieving the topping out of the newest building marks another major milestone for the Sunnyslope community, and we’re proud to be able to celebrate with them as we move closer to the completion of this incredible project and prepare to welcome new students this fall.”

McCarthy has been in business for over 150 years and operates from offices in such cities as St. Louis, Atlanta, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Denver and Phoenix.

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