JULY 29, 2010 ISSUE
Building the New Watauga High School
Four Years, Two Companies, One Construction Manager
Planning and design of the new high school began four years ago.Four years—the length of a U.S. President’s term, the length of a traditional high school and college education and the length of time it took Barnhill/Vannoy to take the new Watauga High School from concept to brick and mortar.
“It’s been four years of my life and I have to say I’m sad to see it end,” said Vannoy Construction’s Mike Kesterson, who, for the last four years, has served as construction manager for the new Watauga High School project. “This represents a great accomplishment for everybody, everyone who was involved.
“I’m extremely proud,” Kesterson continued. “But what I’m most proud of is that, from start to finish, this was a collaborative team effort between the owner, contractor and workers.”
When Watauga youth enter their new high school on August 11, four years of meticulous, ever-changing work will symbolically come to a close. For Kesterson, August means he’ll finally get a vacation—the first vacation he has taken in four years, aside from regular holidays.
Kesterson is excited about a vacation, but he’s also excited about the finished product he and the construction team will unveil to the public during a grand opening this Friday, July 30. With Kesterson as construction manager, the high school project was designed by Charlotte’s SFL&A Architects and brought to fruition by Vannoy & Sons Construction and Barnhill Contracting, which took joint responsibility as construction manager at risk. Barnhill/Vannoy were selected for the job in December 2006.
“A lot of praise also goes to Alvin Cody and his twin brother Calvin Cody who worked as project superintendents,” said Kesterson, who added that the Codys made sure all deadlines were met, managed loads of subcontractors and made sure last-minute changes were completed.
Constructing a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) building was, understandably, a challenge for Barnhill/Vannoy, but it wasn’t new territory.
“It was a challenge, but it was well worth it,” said Kesterson, who said the new Watauga High School project was the first LEED project he had ever worked on. “But like we say at Vannoy, ‘we were doing sustainable before people knew what to call it.’ We’ve been building green-friendly for a long time.
“All in all, I’m proud of giving the youth of this area such a nice facility for education,” said Kesterson. “I feel like this broadens their opportunities in this world.”
For more information on Vannoy Construction, click to www.jrvannoy.com. For more information on SFL&A Architects, click to www.sfla-architects.com. For more information on Barnhill Contracting, click to www.barnhillcontracting.com.
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