Salem-Keizer Public Schools – North Salem High School Renovation

Challenges
Salem-Keizer Public School District, the second largest school district in Oregon, passed a 250-million-dollar bond for the renovation of various facilities throughout the District. Opened in 1906, the original Salem High School building was at the location of the former Meier & Frank building in downtown Salem (now a Macy’s). A decision was made to move the school to a more spacious building, and in 1937, the new Salem High School building was opened on the corner of 14th and D Street. The new building was a project of the Public Works Administration, and at the time of its founding was on the fringes of developed Salem, which now consists of over 50 square miles and 170,000 people. The school’s name was changed in 1954 to North Salem High School when South Salem High School opened that year. Over the years, many additions and renovations have been made to the building, with the latest addition, the West Wing, being completed in 2001. In 2019, the Bond Renovation Program was set to undertake a major seismic renovation project as well as the addition of a new gym building to North Salem High School.

Solutions
TRC, serving as the District’s environmental consultant, was tasked with supporting the architect, general contractor and rest of the District’s project team by ensuring environmental regulations associated with the renovation of the building were followed with respect to asbestos and other hazardous regulated materials.

Services Provided

TRC provided the Project Team with the following services:

• Pre-renovation asbestos and hazardous materials survey reports utilizing the information provided about the various construction and renovation dates of the building as well as asbestos documentation dating back to the late 1980s.
• Asbestos abatement contractor specifications and bid document services, which included a review of the project construction documents in consultation with the architect, general contractor and project management team to help ensure that all identified asbestos-containing materials that were going to be impacted by the scope of the renovation activities were included in the bid document.
• Asbestos abatement oversight, air monitoring and air clearance services, which included attending weekly construction meetings and confirming that the abatement contractor was following all applicable regulations and ensuring that work areas were cleared for re-occupancy.
• Project completion report, including the review of all asbestos abatement contactor submittals and incorporation of all air monitoring and clearance results.