The beginning of the 2012-2013 school year at St. Paul’s has been marked by a complete renovation of the student center due to foundation failure.

“It will make the building more functional, able to fit the entire school more easily, more energy efficient, and will allow the many functions we have there to go off better,” said Trevor Watkins, Assistant Principal and renovation project coordinator regarding the renovation that began during the summer vacation.Watkins noted that the renovations were necessary because the walls of the student center were built on a slab not designed to hold their weight and were sinking. “If these issues had not been noticed, the student center could have collapsed,” Watkins also said.

Since the foundation needed repairing, the school took the opportunity to make additional, much needed improvements. Architect Kieran Weldon has removed the classrooms and is adding a larger stage, new lighting, two new entrances, new flooring throughout the building, and a new sound system.

“The sound system will be updated, clear-sounding, and user friendly,” said Andrew Moran, school band director and sound engineer. “The previous system was not as easy to use as the new one will be,” he also noted.

Most students are unaware that this is not the first time the student center has been renovated. Watkins stated that it has been renovated many times in the past. It started off as an open air covered pavilion similar to the wolf dome. This edifice was eventually closed off. In the mid-1990s, the classrooms were added.

According to Watkins, if all goes well with no severe weather issues or any other discovered structural issues, the contracting company Donahue Favret expects the building to be completed by late December or early January.