East Middle School’s bus loop is nearing completion, according to a construction report given to the Carroll County school board.
A temporary traffic pattern was in place during the last school year.
The new school building opened last fall in Westminster, but completion of the school’s bus loop was delayed about one year after a large obstructive rock mass was discovered. In December, the board approved up to $600,000 in additional funds to address the rock removal.
Paving is finished, including pavement markings, landscaping will soon be complete as grading is being finalized in some areas, and sign walls have been installed. According to the report, signage and an electronic message board will be going up before school begins on Tuesday.
The school system’s construction supervisor Jim Marks reported last month that curbs, gutters, and a paving base were installed along along Tuc Road and Longwell Avenue; a coil cement sub-base was installed for the bus loop before paving was finalized.
Once completed, the project will increase the number of parking spaces from 70 to about 100, Marks said. Parking at a nearby county government parking lot was used in the interim.
The school board first approved the construction of the new middle school campus on Longwell Avenue in December 2019; the project had a $60 million budget at that time. Costs increased to $65.9 million by the time the new building was completed.
The school system began construction on the East Middle School replacement project in November 2021.
The new building features sculpted wall art from the old building treated with an anti-graffiti coating, a stage between the gymnasium and cafeteria that is split to accommodate an audience on either side, an ADA-compliant elevator, and a B.E.S.T. (Behavioral Educational Support Team) special education suite inside the building to better integrate the program previously housed in a structure just outside the school.
The former school building was 120,400 square feet and was constructed in 1936. It served for 35 years as Westminster High School, then nearly 50 years as a middle school, until it was closed last year. Additions were built in 1941, 1950 and 1964, and it was last renovated in 1976. It was replaced by a new three-level 126,000 square-foot building that opened for students in September.
East Middle School has a capacity of about 750 students, including 40 students in the Behavioral Educational Support Team program according to the report.
