Contractor resolves problem window questions
Published: September 24, 2009
Ongoing problems with leaking windows at West Tisbury School are closer to resolution, according to a recent report from West Tisbury assistant principal Robert (Bob) Lane to the UIRSD school committee.
Over the summer, following the discovery of defective window installation in parts of the main school building, additional windows had become a problem in the school's two wings, known as sections C and D, Mr. Lane reported.
The JK Scanlan Company of Falmouth built the school's two wings of similar design and size between 1994 and 1996.
At the end of July, vice president of operations Richard Scanlan took it upon himself to research the window problem, Mr. Lane said.
Mr. Scanlan made several visits to the school and to the offices of Design Partnership of Cambridge, whose architect design team worked on the project. After sifting through project documents, he determined that the EFCO windows installed were designed for a masonry opening instead of the wood frames in West Tisbury School's addition, Mr. Lane said.
Before Chandler Architectural Products of West Springfield, a subcontractor, installed the windows, Mr. Scanlan had submitted a letter saying he was opposed to using them.
While going through the project documents, Mr. Scanlan found his letter, as well as documents indicating that the architect had signed off on shop drawings that called for the EFCO windows, Mr. Lane's report said.
The subcontractor subsequently used the same drawings for reference while installing the windows.
Based on the architect's recommendation, the West Tisbury School building committee also approved the windows.
After researching the problem, on August 25, Mr. Scanlan and his brother, John, president of SK Scanlan, met with West Tisbury selectman Dianne Powers, superintendent of schools James Weiss, school business administrator Amy Tierney, Principal Michael Halt, and Mr. Lane.
The Scanlans suggested two options: replace all of the windows in sections C and D with ones designed for wood frames, or reinstall the EFCO windows into rebuilt wood frames specially designed for them.
In the meantime, windows had been dismantled in the school's C-section, and nine were missing trim and shingles, Mr. Lane said. At the August meeting, the Scanlans offered to help make repairs before school started.
They sent Arthur Chamberlain, one of their carpenters, to work on the project from August 31 to September 4. They also hired Mitch Gordon, a local carpenter, whose children attend West Tisbury School, to help.
"They got the work done ahead of schedule, in less than a week, on the Friday before school opened," Mr. Lane said. "The Scanlans made good on their work, and they deserve credit for that."
Mr. Halt agreed. "We would not have had a successful opening, had it not been for Bob Lane and the Scanlans," he told the UIRSD school committee Monday night.
