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Burlington School District is undergoing a $17 million renovation of the Integrated Arts Academy! The project uses the remaining funds from BSD’s 2017 10-Year Capital Plan funding as well as $10m in ESSER funds.
Work began in the Spring of 2024, with all students moving out of IAA over the summer. The project is on budget and on schedule to be completed in the Spring of 2025, with students and staff returning to the building in the fall of 2025!
This video shows the amazing work going into the project to get it ready for students and staff this fall. Take a look!
In addition to the elimination of the old heating plant and systems throughout the building, which help reduce significant levels of sound and reverberation transference, the style of the new ceilings in the 1904 building classrooms will provide these spaces with significant acoustical improvement, improving the environment within the rooms for a far better academic experience.
The general height and volume of the 1904 classroom spaces will remain to permit natural light to flow into the learning spaces from the large historical windows, maintaining the overall character while improving the appearance and performance of the space! The new ceilings also serve to conceal the new support systems designed to make the spaces more comfortable and functional such as new ventilation, cooling, more efficient heating, updated compliant sprinkler systems, and power and technology access improvements.
Areas of original tin ceilings will remain as the primary finish in selected areas, such as the main lobby corridor on the main level of the 1904 building, to retain the sense of historical character in the core of the building. In other areas, the old tin ceilings will remain in place above the new acoustical ceilings, which allows us to preserve them, rather than simply taking them down.
The 1965 classrooms will have similar improvements to acoustics with new ceilings; prior to renovations, the roof deck was exposed, which allowed sound waves to easily bounce off those hard surfaces. The video also shows vast improvements to natural day lighting with the design of the new windows!