Recently the outside building at Triton has been shut down. Students and teachers are no longer allowed into the buildings due to its closing down. Its power has been shut down. It is speculated to be soil uplifting causing a conduit in the electrical systems to break. Another speculation is that a line or water broke causing the conduit to be broken.
The lack of power means that fire alarms no longer work for the building making it unsafe. As well as there being no lights or electricity meaning it would be very difficult to teach classes in the rooms. Triton’s head of facilities, Mr. Jonathan Skoniecki has been involved in the plans for this problem. At the current moment they are waiting for electricians to give a diagnosis of the damages and the cost of the repairs needed to fix the buildings.
“The call is just how much is it going to cost to get this thing back up safely and have it run long term – whether that’s feasible.With the new building project online, how much money do we want to put into something?”said Skoeniecki
“We were actually considering discontinuing the old building regardless of the situation just due to safety and security concerns related to Door 17,” said Skoniecki. “People are in and out constantly, so that was being weighed as well, so if there’s a lot of things at play with what the building’s future will be as we get costs and everything else. Then we will determine what the best step forward is. ”
The future of the building is uncertain, It could become anything from a storage area for athletic equipment to becoming completely shut down.
Mr. Robert Lathrop teaches the VTV classes, which have been moved to room M101 due to the closing of the outside building. Its a temporary move and the next permanent location for VTV is not yet set. It’s up to Principal Patrick Kelley to make the decision.
However, Lathrop does have preferences on where he would be moved. One thing that Lathrop wants is easy access to the outside. As VTV often has to move equipment for games and being close, this would make it more convenient. Another thing Lathrop wants is a room not in an academic hallway as he is aware of the noise his students make due to the nature of their class needing to record and interview.
He also would like more space. Lathrop teaches large classes of students and needs to house a wide variety of equipment; thus, the extra area would allow space for all his students and equipment.
“There’s pluses and minuses to both (being in the outbuilding or in the main building),” said Lathrop. “I liked being outside because my students were separated from the rest of the building where they could be distractions. I also liked its proximity to the stadium because we moved a lot of equipment out for filming games and it was a gorgeous place to be in the fall and in the spring when the weather was nice. In the winter, not so much. I like being inside when the weather is rainy and cold so my students don’t have to go outside in order to get to the class. Our bathrooms were often locked in the winter because the pipes would freeze, so my students like having access to a bathroom on the inside. Like I said, there’s pluses and minuses to both,” said Lathrop
“Our graduating seniors would paint their hand prints on the wall and then label their names with their graduation date so there’s a wall in that building that has a lot of history to it. I’ll miss you know having that reminder of that history. So we’ll have to come up with a new tradition for our seniors if we’re going to be inside so that’s one thing I’ll miss from that space.” said Lathrop
