CHPA Beam Signing & Topping Out Celebration!
CRP Architects was honored to participate in the beam signing ceremony to celebrate an important milestone for the Ersillia Cruz Middle School Campus. We are grateful for the opportunity to be associated with the Chavez Huerta Preparatory Academy and our partners at Nunn Construction. It is humbling to be part of a team of educational visionaries such as Dr. Richard Duran, CEO of the school and Mr. Jack Bay, the COO. Both gentlemen along with the school board, are achieving incredible things for the Pueblo community, and it is inspiring to be part of the process. Congratulations to the school and the community for another important step forward!
CHAVEZ HUERTA PRESS RELEASE
This new school is being build by Nunn Construction, led by Tyson Nunn. CRP Archtiects, led by Brian Risley provided the plans to this new school as a prototype building that the current CHPA Chief Business Officer assisted in designing as the part of the District 49 bond issue in 2016. Matt Wilhelm from Wember Inc. is providing CHPA the owners representation for the construction operation. The new facility is scheduled to open fall of 2022. The new building will have a capacity of 650 students.
For additional information please contact Jack W. Bay, Chief Operations Officer, at jwbay@chpa-k12.org or 719.289.3809.
The new 66,000 SQ FT, two story, state of the art, transitional Ersilia Cruz Middle School is at its project mid-point and Chavez Huerta K-12 Preparatory Academy is stopping for a few moments to celebrate the “Topping Out”. The final beam is going to be set on November 17, 2021 at 1:30 pm.
The new school will feature a 350-megawatt (green) solar farm that will be able to offset a portion of the energy costs for the new building as well as the energy needs for the new transportation facility. CHPA has been awarded 2022 BEST Grant to fund the permanent home for the Ersilia Cruz Middle School and the state of the art Dolores Huerta Preparatory High School.
All of these capital improvements are the result of the CHPA 2016 Educational Master Plan (EMP) implemented to improve student performance to exceptional heights. CHPA mission is “to provide students a challenging, high-quality, diverse k-12 learning environment that develops lifelong learners”. In 2016, CHPA’s directors as a part of the EMP developed the following goals:
BOARD GOALS 2016-2021
Achieve national accreditation by 2021
Improve academic student success to exceed state standards
Upgrade facilities to meet 21st century technology needs with emphasis on renewing modular plans
Stabilize and enhance funding for CHPA
Why the Tree? Why “Topping Out”?…
Topping out refers to the installation of the final piece of a structure, or the completion of the roof in a building. It signifies that the structure has reached its maximum height (typically the mid-point of construction).
The significance of topping out is believed to date back to pre-dark age Scandinavian, where folklore suggests there was a practice of placing a tree on top of a new building to appease the tree dwelling spirits of their displaced ancestors. The Scandinavian invaders of the mid-to-late 8th century, introduced the practice to England. In 14th century England, topping out ceremonies were marked by a yew tree branch being placed at the highest point of the building.