Story

For the second phase of Capital Improvements at Indianapolis Public Schools the Trotter-Turner team 

was chosen to provide construction management services for an extensive renovation of George 

Washington Community School.  The renovation met conditional improvements, enhanced educational space, and upgraded the site and infrastructure of this eighty year-old facility.  The George Washington project was without a doubt the most complex project within Phase II of the IPS program.   

The George Washington project presented many unique challenges in updating a historic school building into a first rate facility, while preserving the fundamental architectural characteristics and keeping the facility fully functional throughout the duration of construction.  To meet this challenge, the construction program was broken into eight different phases.  Detailed construction schedules and constant communication were paramount in meeting the aggressive construction schedule while ensuring the safety of the student body and the community.  Listed below are a few of the activities accomplished by the Trotter-Turner team that led to the successful completion of the project. 

• Maintained functionality of life safety systems.  The construction team took precautions early on 

to ensure that life safety systems would be functional during the construction process.   

• Successfully managing the unforeseen conditions of a renovation project.   

The interior base of every exterior wall suffered extensive water damaged due to failed flashing and 

pure aging.  The construction team worked diligently to formulate a plan that managed through this 

unforeseen condition and allowed the project to be completed on schedule. 

• Sensitivity to and awareness of hazardous materials.  As an 80 year-old building, the facility 

naturally contained materials such as asbestos and lead paint.  The construction team worked hand in 

hand with the school system to ensure the hazardous material was abated.  The team developed a 

schedule that would allow the asbestos to be removed (by a third party) via use of OSHA compliant 

negative air enclosures.   

• Way-finding utilized to minimize effect of changes.  Use of simple, visible signage was posted 

throughout the school facility.  The signs directed people away from potentially hazardous areas and 

clearly marked alternative routes.   

• High quality barriers to boost morale.  Physical barriers (temporary walls) were erected to 

separate the workers from the school population.  Having clean, quality, semi-permanent walls 

increases morale and consequently reduces the likelihood for student misbehavior.   

• Successful demolition of a 100 foot smokestack.  The renovation program called for the 

installation of five new, high efficiency gas fired boilers.  This new system made the old steam 

boilers obsolete and thus no further need for the existing smoke stack.  The joint venture team led 

efforts to demolish this 100 foot smokestack by hand.  The smokestack was directly in the center of 

the building and the demolition process was completed with absolutely no issues or complaints. 

Extensive planning between the school and the construction crew helped make this challenging task 

a success.