It may seem to some that all that was needed to build this school was a couple of nails and a large sum of money. Many students do not realize the incredible amount of planning and work that went into creating this new building. However, many people have been working around the clock for years just trying to complete the Harriton we have now. I spoke to Mr. Kline about his part in the construction and pulling together a new school.
The first plans to build a new school originated about ten years ago; around five years before Mr. Kline began working here. Mr. Kline explained, “There was a plan initially that they had the architects draw that did not fly. So what happened with this building was we had architects draw plans, we put out a bid, it came in over what we could afford. We had to cut some things out, redo some things, and the result is the building we have now.” Once the second plan was established the date was set and construction started. These blueprints were due to be completed by fall of 2009.
Unknown to most students, Mr. Kline himself played a huge part in the decision making part of the construction. “I had a big say in a lot of things, whether it was helping with the design or picking spaces or colors; I had a fair amount to do with construction.” Mr. Kline laughed and went on to say, “This building is kind of like one of my kids: I feel like I spent so much time and effort on it that I’m very proud of it obviously, I feel some ownership to it.” He laughed again before quickly remarking, “Not that I own it, but you understand what I’m saying.”
When I asked what the hardest part of the process was, Mr. Kline talked about the difficulty of having to cut certain things from the original plan due to budget restraints. “When we had the initial bid and then we had to cut — to rebid: that was difficult because I saw what the potential was but knew we couldn’t have everything. Trying to cut dollars without significantly effecting the building we ended up with was tough.” However, the construction was not all bad and Mr. Kline said he enjoyed many parts of it, such as watching the new building go up piece by piece. Yet the part he enjoyed most was giving the tours. Over the summer and at the end of last year Mr. Kline gave tours to any teachers, students, and parents who wanted to catch a glimpse of the new school. He recalled, “It was interesting on parents night how many parents said, ‘Oh yeah, we saw you on tours; you’re the guy that walked backward without falling’”.
Now that the new building is up and fully functioning, I asked Mr. Kline what he thought the best aspect was.
After thinking for a moment (He said he had trouble picking the best aspect when there were so many good ones), he decided on the lecture hall. “I’ve had faculty meetings there and I’ve been there for a couple lectures by different teachers. Our whole concept behind the lecture hall is to try to give you a little bit of the college experience before you get to college. It affords us that opportunity, when we had no room like it in the old school. Hopefully students will see the value in it, not now, but when they get to college at least.”
On the other hand, Mr. Kline said the breakfast table was the area of the school undergoing the most “growing pains.” He explained that hopefully next year things will change, “When we’re finished next year with the demolition and the new parking lots, all the students that drive and all the students that get dropped off will be entering the school at that lobby. So I think next year it will be utilized a little bit more. I’m surprised that students hang out in that main lobby where the ram is and don’t wander down a little further, but its a nice big area, so it kind of works.” He commented, “I think the area that is most under utilized area of the new school is the JSL.”
Mr. Kline conveyed that teachers on the whole have been overwhelmingly positive about the new building, “the teaching spaces we have and the [other] spaces we have are so much better than what we had previously.” I asked if the reviews were any different from the students. “For the students, all I hear is ‘why can’t we have food throughout the school?’” he responded somewhat ruefully, “But a good barometer for me is when we had the Harriton Service League and some student council people came in for tours before the 9th grade tour. As I was giving tours to the upperclassmen, just seeing students faces as they’re seeing one space and another space, was great. So I think the students are fairly happy with the building.” He paused briefly before asking me a question “Are they?”
And on the whole students seem to really enjoy the building; most seem to appreciate the perks of having a school where everything is brand new. Mr. Kline agreed, “We’re very, very fortunate to have a building like this.” He went on stating, “Students so far have done a wonderful job with the building, I think they’re very proud of the building also.” Only time will tell, but for the moment it is enough to revel at all the work it took simply to get here.
Moira Lavelle