Reconstruction of the Keene Central School entrance is seen here Sunday, Aug. 15. (News photo — Andy Flynn)

KEENE VALLEY — Keene Central School will open Sept. 7, the day after Labor Day, as usual, but capital project construction will still be underway when the students arrive.

This week, the building and grounds were buzzing with activity, and onlookers are curious. The school is clearly undergoing a transformation, but just what will that look like in the end?

According to District Superintendent Dan Mayberry’s projections, capital project work will be completed by December, with the exception of one of the school’s soccer fields, which is expected to be finished next summer.

One change is striking. Early in the summer, outdated playground equipment was removed. Then, recently, seemingly overnight, a giant structure, black and orange — the school colors — appeared, to replace the old jungle gym. Its fantastical tunnels, ladders and slides look like something from science fiction.

“It’s scary,” said 6-year-old Anna, tilting back her head to look up at the top. “It’s so high to climb, but I want to.” She was not happy that the structure was fenced around with yellow tape, signaling that playing on it was forbidden.

Scaffolding covers the front of the Keene Central School on Sunday, Aug. 15. (News photo — Andy Flynn)

One of the work crew said that the playground might be open some time this week.

“Come back every day and tell me if the playground is open yet,” Anna said.

The previous playground was more than 25 years old, and its equipment provided hollow spaces where yellowjacket wasps came to nest every year, despite the efforts of school staff to control them. Even with maintenance, insect stings were a regular occurrence. Furthermore, the playground did not meet ADA (American Disabilities Act) requirements for accessibility.

The play area is just one of the many parts of KCS undergoing repair or replacement now. In 2016, a strategic planning committee, made up of Keene residents, discussed the possibility of a school merger.

Because KCS is a small school, with fewer than 200 students in grades K-12, some town residents were in favor of a merger. Community feedback, however, was largely in favor of keeping KCS as an independent school district. The committee determined that, in order to continue into the future, KCS would need to change with the times.

The old Keene Central School jungle gym has been replaced by this imposing structure, boasting the school colors of orange and black. Neighborhood children are eagerly awaiting the moment when the yellow tape is removed and they are allowed to try it out. (Provided photo — Martha Allen)

This approximately $7.8 million capital project was approved by Keene Central School District voters in 2019, the same year the school finished paying off its previous capital project that started back in 1999.

A safer, controlled entrance to the building and secure vestibule is under construction.

A new conference room is included in modifications to the front entrance area.

“We didn’t have a dedicated conference room, and we did desperately need one,” said KCS Principal Bob Woughter. Speaking of the conference room, new science lab and other additions, he went on to say, “Students are lucky that the community has supported our vision of spaces needed to ensure student success for the next 20 years — until the next capital project.”

The main entrance as well as classrooms will be brought up to code with current safety upgrades. Replacement of the classroom and office door lock sets will allow for safety in locking the doors from the inside, obviating the necessity of stepping into the hallway during an emergency.

This addition will also include a conference room and guidance center adjacent to the main entrance, and the main office will be relocated to the entrance area.

The efficiency of the school’s heating system has been declining with age. School board members discussed biomass and solar energy as well as geothermal energy. They questioned the price and durability of the equipment involved in installing a biomass system, as well as particulate matter emissions. The board also questioned the adequacy of a geothermal system in extremely cold temperatures and considered the price of such a system prohibitive.

Their decision was to replace the school’s fuel oil boilers with new propane boilers in order to make the heating system more efficient and sustainable and less polluting. Propane tanks have been installed on the west side of the school yard and will be completely buried after the system is operable. The excavation dug in preparation for the tanks caused some speculation in the community that KCS was installing a swimming pool, but this was not a part of the capital project plan.

The school’s septic tank and septic field are being replaced.

A new classroom for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) courses is under construction off the newer elementary wing. There will also be an addition to the fitness classroom.

The KCS physical education program has been moving away from an emphasis on traditional team sports to a focus on lifetime fitness.

The new fitness classroom will accommodate personal exercise with weights and movement in order to introduce students to activities they can continue after high school. This room will also be used to provide occupational and physical therapy to qualifying students.

Other repairs, additions and improvements include the replacement of the auditorium doors to meet current code, which will allow the auditorium to be secured with doors that lock; improvement of the auditorium’s ventilation system; repair of the school’s roof and masonry; modernization of information technologies, including new wiring and updates to the school’s 10-year-old internet service; installation of a new fence for the gymnasium roof to prevent snow and ice from sliding off and endangering pedestrians below, and replacement of the leaky skylight over the elementary hallway.