Throughout the summer, as students encompassed themselves in family and friends, AHS was surrounded by tractors, cement trucks, and various other machines. These machines clogged the streets around AHS,  while construction workers were hard at work in Ossian Hall Park, the trailers and the visitors bleachers.

Trailers:

On Monday, August 23 construction workers began moving trailer quads and clearing out space for a modular unit to be built in the back parking lot. The free-standing, portable pod is made up of 17 pieces which will be brought to AHS and assembled like a puzzle. “Just imagine taking about four of those [trailer] quads, and putting them all together,” said safety and security specialist Chris Tippins.

The modular will contain 14 classrooms, an office, a conference room, and student and faculty bathrooms. The building will include two biology labs, along with classrooms for several other departments. “Teachers that have to go to several classrooms [to teach] will be in the modular,” said assistant principal Vincent Randazzo. The modular is being put in to aid  to the needs of the overcrowding issue within AHS.

Construction workers plan on finishing this project by Columbus Day weekend. However, since there are multiple factors that rely on each other (such as Fairfax County, the sewage company and contractors) involved in the development of the modular, the completion time of the  building may change later on.

Similar to last year, the remaining trailers, hiding behind the vast school building, are organized by subject. One new pathway was constructed to help students find their way around the immense fenced in area reserved for the modular unit. Certain students, with classes that stand behind the metal fence, will have to take a bit of a longer trek to their trailer classes.

Ossian Hall Park:

Upperclassmen and faculty from the previous year witnessed the start of the construction on Ossian Hall Park. Since the initial clearing of the forest, around the first week of February 2010 until now, a lot has been accomplished.

When completed, Ossian Hall Park is expected to not only have an extended parking lot, but also two concrete basketball courts, a synthetic turf field and an amphitheater. The county also plans on remodeling the softball fields residing behind the parking lot.

Lit pathways will be added as well, to help people navigate around the park. Lights will also be added to the fields, in order to make use of the fields at night. In addition, an infiltration system will run through the middle of the parking lot.

Ossian Hall Park was originally scheduled to be completed by the end of October. However, due to changes in the plan for the field to be made of turf, the full renovations most likely will be finished by November.

AHS is lucky to have a very good relationship with Fairfax County and the park authority. During the day, the county will allow the school to use 40 parking spots. They also allow AHS  to use the softball fields for the baseball and softball teams to practice on.

Bleachers:

New bleachers on the visitors side of the football stadium were erected this summer in anticipation of a safer viewing environment. The old ones, installed during the renovation about ten years ago, were not up to par with current safety regulations.
“There was only one way in and out of [the old bleachers] so it was not safe in terms of emergencies,” said Director of Student Activities Angelo Hilios. “There are three now.”
The exits aren’t the only new addition to the bleachers. They were moved back from the field and handrails were installed to provide an even safer atmosphere. The new bleachers are also smaller than the old ones, as its capacity is down about 500 seats.
“[The construction] took about a month,” said Hilios. “They had to take down the old ones, dig an area for a drainage pipe (because a lot of water was held between the back of the bleachers and the tennis courts), relocate a water pump for irrigation, and pour a cement pad that the bleachers now sit on.”
The bleachers will first be put to the test when the Atoms play their home opener against Falls Church on Sept. 10.

What this means for parking:

Construction throughout Ossian Hall Park, the trailers, and on the visitors bleachers has inflicted slight chaos in AHS. Approximately 100 parking spots were lost because of the new additions to the school. “The parking has impacted every single person at school: students, parents, teachers, volunteers,” said dean of students Hassan Mims.

Due to the construction of the modular unit, there has been a massive reduction of parking spaces in what was previously the faculty and staff parking lot. As a result, many staff and faculty members will have to parallel park along Four Year Run this year. A yellow line was also added along Four Year Run to distinguish the different sides of the (now very narrow) road and help the traffic flow.

Since many of the 290 parking spots reserved for faculty and staff will now accompany what was previously used as parking for students, there will be very few spaces left for students. “Until further notice there will be no student parking,” said Tippins. “Students are still allowed to apply and get their applications in [for parking spots].”

“AHS is the oldest operational school in the county,” said Mims. Unlike other schools AHS has stayed in the same place as it’s original base was built, and has just been built onto. Therefore, it was not built for as many cars as the students and faculty have. In 1954, mainly just faculty members had cars. Whereas now, not only are there more students and faculty residing at AHS, but there are also a large portion of students and faculty members own cars.

Despite the fewer parking spaces, most students  have the option of taking the bus to and from school. “The county does provide transportation and that’s a nice, easy, feasible way to get in and out of here,” said Tippins. However, not every student has the option to take the bus when staying after school for sports and other activities. “Parking at AHS has always been a challenge but we will explore every available option to meet the needs of our students,” principal John Ponton stated in an e-mail sent out to students and parents on September 1.