Smith Supporters Reports On Ben L. Smith High School Renovations Not Satisfactory

On December 12th, the Athletic Booster Club learned that Guilford County Schools and HM Kern Construction was passing off incomplete renovations as complete. Some of these renovations were supposed to be completed in August 2016. The work outlined in the Statement of Work was not completed but the Administration signed off and paid the contractor for work.

Below is a list of the examples of subpar work done on this project. This list was compiled after the contractor walked around with school officials on November 16th, 2016. The booster club and various concerned community members of Smith were notified on December 12th of said issues listed below.

(photos submitted at end of article)

There is no sink in the athletic training room, non-working lights, no outlets in the locker rooms or training rooms, water leaking in the weight room, no heat in the brand new wrestling room, we are unable to install wrestling mats due to the roof leaking, gym renovations were not finished and there are electrical outlets in the shower. Original specifications of the project were changed to save cost.

Girls locker room:
– Base boards
– Nails hanging out of walls
– ceilings cleaned
– Top of pipes
– Exposed wires
– They stated tile work is not good
– Support behind stalls in locker room
– Paint pipes
– Wax floor in office
– Different color tiles in office
– Slow drain in PE office
– No new door in PE office bathroom
– Holes in wall from existing pipes
– Splatter all over walls in locker rooms
– Paint pvc in girls locker room
– Divot in new wall
– Holes around piping
– Didn’t clean tile in showers
– Space between lockers and floor
– Paint peeling
– Ventilation grates need cleaning

Training room:
– Lights
– Walls painted
– Floor boards
– No installation on pipes
– Faucet to reach whirl pool and power
– Tub not trapped to drain (water is going to go everywhere)

Boys Basketball Team room:
– Paint ceiling
– Power outlet
– Fill holes
– Clean pipes
– Installation on pipes
– White boards missing
– Screws out
– Exit sign not flush

Boys locker room:
– Not enough paint on walls
– Pin holes in wall
– No block filler on new wall
– Support for stalls
– Old plumbing patches
– Door frame needs to be repainted
– New cover plate on light switches
– Clean tiles in shower
– Paint pipes
– Tile on floor in showers is popped up
– Base board in shower
– Top of wall around shower not finished
– Vents/grate in wall
** It doesn’t sound like they are going to paint floors like they told us they would. Contractor stated the quote came in yesterday way higher than anticipated.

Team rooms Boys:
– Team room door to parking lot will not close
– They have to take out new lights to put ventilation

Weight Room:
– Paint
– Base boards
– Water running down wall from leak in roof

Wrestling room:
– Cut rods on long screws
– Windows on door
– Clean up ceilings from old walls
– Need to paint piping
– Heater not connected

Storage room:
– Needs to be cleaned

After our initial escalation, benches were just installed on Thursday, December 22nd. GCS School Board members Deena Hayes Green and Byron Gladden were made aware of these issues. They have participated in helping getting needs addressed. However, everything hasn’t been completed at this time.

The stadium renovation is an even worse situation. GCS Superintendent of Construction (Project Manager) will not issue a “stop order” to correct the issues at the stadium and internal facilities. This is a $5+ million dollar project that is being inappropriately managed. They are cutting corners. The Locker rooms in the field house were designed too small which will not accommodate all student athletes. They have three locker rooms from current projects (Northwest, Southeast, and Dudley) to use as models.

The original plan for the Home lockers under the stadium has been moved into the Field house plan which now makes both locker rooms smaller and nonproductive for future growth in school enrollment. GCS ordered football lockers which are 2 x 2 half length. They should be 3 x 3 floor length. This would match the other field house projects that have been completed. The new visitor’s side bleachers have been pulled from the plan. New visitor bleachers were listed on the GCS website as part of the renovation. In addition, the new weight room designed for under stadium has been removed.

Much of what was promised has not been done. The community and large alumni population want answers as to how these contractors are being paid for work they have not done, how this type of work (See attached photos) is approved by any building inspector and why the work at Ben L. Smith High School does not meet the same quality standards as other schools in Guilford County.

Photos of some of the items described above.
[AFG_gallery id=’272′]

Submitted by Smith Supporters

2 thoughts on “Smith Supporters Reports On Ben L. Smith High School Renovations Not Satisfactory

  1. Guilford County Schools Adm. needs to do right by the Students and Community of Smith H.S., POINT BLANK, NO EXCUSES !!!

  2. Yes this is a crying shame, first of all Smith needs an administration that cares about the school & students.2nd how is it that Smith renovations got skipped over all of these years…these things should have been addressed years ago.

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