Richard M. Nixon was the U.S. president, the Dodge Challenger debuted as America’s most popular car, and Dysart High School was a mere seven years old when its auto shop classroom first opened in El Mirage. While the school had updated the equipment inside the building over the years, the infrastructure needed refurbishing for more than 125 Career and Technical Education (CTE) students in the Automotive Technology program. Enter McCarthy Building Companies.
The construction firm recently completed a remodel of the Dysart Unified School District facility. The school hosted a re-opening ceremony to celebrate the facelift in October 2021.
“This facility is a valuable, hands-on learning lab for students in the community,” Jim Grieshaber, Career and Technical Education Director, says. “This newly remodeled building will provide critical industry training that will prepare students to be valuable assets in the automotive technology industry.”
McCarthy expanded the building by 1,200 square feet with added storage space. The work included adding a new simulation lab and entrance, bathrooms, a new eye- and a hand-washing station, and classroom updates such as windows for the shop area. New systems such as evaporative coolers, a heat pump, exhaust fans, fire alarm, and IT were installed. Additionally, the building received new roofing, insulation, wiring, interior and exterior paint, doors, hardware and garage door openers and the concrete floors were ground and polished.
The complete project cost $893,173 and was funded through a West-MEC grant and district CTE funds. McCarthy managed the construction project and One! Architecture designed the remodel/expansion.
“Being part of this team, collaborating with the District, West-MEC, One! Architecture, consultants, and our trade partners to deliver this important and valuable project to serve the students of DUSD in a new way has been incredibly rewarding,” Jared Storms, project director at McCarthy, says. “I know I speak for everyone at McCarthy and each person who was fortunate to be part of making this project a reality. Thank you and congratulations!”
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This article originally appeared in the bimonthly Arizona Contractor & Community magazine, Jan/Feb 2022 issue, Vol. 11, No. 1.