Ground Broken for New Jersey Charter School

Friends of BelovED Community Charter School 2, Inc. (Friends 2) and the project team of Urbahn Architects and construction manager Hollister Construction Services have broken ground for the new BelovED Community Charter School’s Middle School building. The new school will be situated on a half-acre parcel of land in Jersey City, N.J. New Jersey Community Capital and Provident Bank have provided construction financing of $12.5 million for the project.

BelovED Charter School

BelovED Community Charter School (“BelovED”) is named in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s vision of the “Beloved Community.” The school currently serves 960 students.

The building’s façade will feature Exterior Insulation and Finish System (EIFS), a non-load bearing, exterior wall cladding on steel studs, with Batt insulation. Energy efficiency will be also improved by thermally- proficient low emissivity (low-e) windows with high visible transmittance (VT) properties that will allow increased amounts of natural light into the school’s interiors.

The construction team will address several logistical and technical challenges, including working on a small site with almost full lot coverage by the building and elevated playground, which prevents storage of materials on site. Hollister will carefully pre-plan and schedule deliveries of all materials to be trucked in as needed for immediate installation. In addition, the crews will work in close proximity to existing townhouses. In order to eliminate any impact on the neighboring properties, construction workers will pre-auger all piles, removing the need for prolonged, vibration-inducing pile driving.

Featured

  • North Carolina District Completes New Elementary School

    The Wake County Public School System (WCPSS) in Holly Springs, N.C., recently announced that construction on a new elementary school has finished, according to a news release. Rex Road Elementary School measures in at 133,000 square feet and is the fifteenth school that general contractor Balfour Beatty has completed for the district.

  • South Carolina District Starts Construction on $50M Middle School Renovation

    The Aiken County Public School District in North Augusta, S.C., recently held a groundbreaking ceremony for the $50-million renovation and expansion of North Augusta Middle School, according to a news release. The project’s funding comes from the 2024 renewal of a one-cent sales tax approved by local voters.

  • Houston-Area High School Breaks Ground on 117,000SF Multi-Use Facility

    North Shore Senior High School, part of Galena Park ISD in Houston, Texas, recently broke ground on a new multi-use facility for student extracurriculars, according to a news release. The North Shore Multi-Use Facility will include dedicated practice and training space for the school’s athletics and fine arts programs.

  • Niles West High School Natatorium Renovation

    Natatoriums are highly specialized spaces, and luminaires in this setting face several unique challenges. Perhaps the most significant is corrosion, which is exacerbated by high indoor humidity, condensation, and pool chemicals, often resulting in material degradation in luminaires not certified to perform in corrosive environments.