Jamestown Public Schools officials and construction partners officially broke ground on the district’s $86.5 million dollar Capital Improvements Project on Tuesday afternoon at the Raymond J. Fashano Technical Academy in downtown Jamestown. Pictured are, from left to right, Timothy Voigt, of Turner Construction Company; Eric Zeffiro and Shawn Wright, of Young & Wright Architectural; Joseph Pawelski, JPS Board of Education member; Dr. Kevin Whitaker, JPS Superintendent; Patrick Slagle, JPS Board of Education Vice President; Richard Krouse, of Young & Wright Architectural; and Mark Dowling, of Turner Construction Company.

Jamestown Public Schools officials broke ground Tuesday for the first phase of $86.5 million worth of Capital Improvement Projects in the district.

District taxpayers approved the improvement projects in May 2021.

Superintendent Dr. Kevin Whitaker said the projects are focused on keeping students warm, safe, and dry, “So, it entails a lot of things like HVAC, and windows, and roof, and exterior, and sidewalks, and steps, but also things like upgrades to classrooms and changes to some of the layout to the high school, for example. In phase two, coming up will be changes in the cafeteria that will be dramatic as well as changes to classrooms.”

Young and Wright Architectural Project Coordinator Eric Zeffiro said the Raymond Fashano Tech Academy will be extensively renovated including replacing all the windows, adding a secure entrance, and renovating classrooms. He said work also will be done at the Bus Garage, “We’re going to be doing some concrete replacements because the flooring isn’t draining properly whenever they hose the buses down. And then, over at Fletcher Elementary we’re also doing a lot of ceiling replacements, roofing replacements, a lot of the invisible work in a building like plumbing, mechanical, all that kind of work.”

Whitaker said the Tech Academy is the one of the last buildings receiving a secure entry with Persell Middle School’s secure entry project underway, “We have a number of safety and security upgrades as well, from additional cameras to modernized cameras, to door systems to upgrading our lock and access systems, a number of things are part of this as well.”

Work on the capital projects is beginning over school breaks, including this summer, with Whitaker saying all projects are expected to be completed by 2026.