April 5, 2002 – Construction of the gymnasium at the new $28 million-plus Bertha C. Boschulte Middle School is moving right along, but not in the right direction, Sen. Carlton Dowe said Wednesday while paying a site visit to the campus, where the old school was destroyed by Hurricane Marilyn in 1995.
An air-conditioning unit has not been installed in the new gym, nor has a wooden floor been laid in the facility, Dowe said.
He had cited a need for both in a letter he wrote in January to Gov. Charles W. Turnbull demanding that the design of the facility be revised. BCB Principal Carver Farrow came out in strong agreement.
Dowe told the governor then: "I find it incredible that in our hot, tropical climate, this gymnasium is being constructed without any provision for air conditioning." The senator reminded the governor that the roof of the Ivanna Eudora Kean High School gym, built in the 1990s, had to be retrofitted to accommodate cooling equipment. "We should have learned from that experience," he said.
On Wednesday, Dowe said he was "astonished" to find that no action had been taken on his request three months of three months ago. "I cannot believe that we are going to relive the same nightmare scenario that occurred with the Ivan Eudora Kean gym," he said.
Dowe and Farrow are also hot under the collar about the installation of a rubberized floor instead of wood. "That kind of floor isn't being used today," Farrow said in January. "It's dangerous because of the injuries it causes students. It shouldn't be part of the plan."
The senator called rubberized flooring obsolete, "unwise and inhumane," charging that there can be "serious damage to the legs of students and others who are forced to run up and down on a rubberized floor surface."
Dowe said Wednesday he had heard by "word of mouth" that a wooden floor was "too expensive." The concrete floor is now poured, he said.
However, Farrow said that at this point, a wooden floor still can be laid.
The BCB principal also said that he "was made to believe at one time — though not directly from the governor — that the air conditioning would be installed." He added, "It's very important. We want this to be a community gym. We want to partner with Housing Parks and Recreation so they can hold games in the evening. We want the community to be part of the school. No one wants a hot gym. We can't hold classes like that."
At the current stage of the work, "Because of the slowness in the construction, they can still cut through the walls to put in the air conditioning," Dowe said Wednesday. He said he had spoken with Keith Richards, the governor's special assistant for capital projects, about the matter.
"Richards told me more than a week ago that they expect to put in the air conditioning," he said. "It makes sense to do it now. They have to make a decision and move quickly. Next week the contractors will be plastering the walls."
Dowe said he also had spoken with Kenneth Mapp, the newly appointed director of administration and finance for the Public Finance Authority. Mapp "said he would get back with me within a week's time," Dowe said, adding, "He has only been on the job two days."
Farrow said he is contacting Mapp, too. "We need someone to intervene, and that would have to come from Government House," he said.
Mapp said later Wednesday afternoon, "I will be talking to the governor about the gym."
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