Addelita Cancryn Junior High School is at long last getting the physical improvements it has desperately needed for almost 15 years, since Hurricane Marilyn in 1995.
Work began in late August on the expansion of the school’s existing cafeteria, and renovation of its hurricane-damaged cafeteria. In a prepared statement, Public Works Commissioner Darryl Smalls said, "This long-awaited project, a rehabilitation that has been pending for about eight years, will greatly enhance the school’s facilities."
Smalls said the existing building, now utilized as a cafeteria, will have additional construction on the southern side of the building to enlarge the cafeteria and kitchen areas. The building, which now doubles as an auditorium, will be outfitted with a new roofing system, male and female bathrooms, a new stage, dressing rooms, exterior security windows, exterior exit doors and new storage rooms.
The finished building, Smalls said, will be used for general assemblies, and for physical education when inclement weather prevents outdoor activity.
Cancryn principal Yvonne Pilgrim took a tour of the construction Tuesday morning. "Now," she said, "we won’t have to have 10 team meetings to be able to speak with all the students." Pilgrim was taking evident pleasure in at last seeing the construction begin, as workers moved the walk-in freezer out of the old cafeteria to make way for new construction.
"We won’t have to go elsewhere to hold musical performances now," she said. The school has had to use Palms Court Harbor View and other venues for the past 14 years since the 1995 storm.
Meantime, the hurricane-damaged cafeteria building on the south side of the campus has steadily deteriorated, only its pillars left standing, like St. Thomas’ own Stonehenge.
Cancryn has needed a cafeteria, a gymnasium and an auditorium since the storm. The school, which now has 712 students, has had no place to hold an assembly for all the students.
With no gym, Cancryn physical education activities are held out of doors in a dirt cricket field west of the school where students are exposed to intense sun and experience heat exhaustion, dehydration and aggravations to allergies and asthma. If the weather is inclement, there is no physical education.
Though Smalls doesn’t mention it in his statement, Pilgrim said the new plans definitely include a covered walkway to the cafeteria. For the past 14 years, the students have had to trek through the elements for a hot lunch.
The school’s physical condition has continued to worsen over the years, as, time after time, money has been appropriated by the Senate, which for one reason or another, never makes it to the school.
In 2004, funds promised since 2002, were said by then Public Finance Authority director Kenneth Mapp to be on the horizon. Mapp said that several million dollars from a recent $268 million PFA bond sale would go to the school system, including $3 million for Cancryn.
Smalls, in his statement, said that the sale of 2003 Public Finance Authority gross receipts bonds will be utilized to fund the project. He didn’t return calls Tuesday for comment on the estimated cost of the project.
Public Works, in conjunction with the Departments of Education and Property and Procurement, contracted Caribbean Professional Services, as project architects. Apex Construction Company was selected for as contractor through the bidding process.
The work is scheduled for completion by mid-August 2010.
