Inside Amherst’s new elementary school: Amethyst Brook nears completion

AMHERST — Next to each classroom inside the Amethyst Brook Elementary School, currently under construction on South East Street, are specialized project areas for independent or small-group work.

Designed for unique educational opportunities, these three-story building spaces, which still await final furnishings like tables and chairs, are now taking shape with student lockers and teacher cabinetry.

“The project areas and the lockers are new, and also new will be not having any mold,” said Wildwood School Principal Allison Estes, who will serve as Amethyst Brook’s first principal when Wildwood and Fort River close. “This is going to be a healthier building for children and adults.”

Estes joined about 30 visitors on a tour of the new school Tuesday afternoon. Among those in attendance were staff union and Parent Guardian Organization representatives and district and town staff. Estes has high praise for the CTA Construction Managers and DiNisco Design.

“Such good work is happening,” Estes said, observing the tour was her first time inside since winter and that the space finally feels like it will when it opens.

The K-5 school for up to 565 students is set to be ready for the first day in late August.

“We’re planning to be done by the end of July,” said Kseniya Slavsky, owner’s project manager.

During the tour, led by DiNisco Design principal Tim Cooper, attendees saw nearly completed areas where even the hallways and stairwells are bathed in light.

“You see natural light from as many places in the building as possible,” Cooper said. “You can see daylight from anywhere.”

This is especially evident on the second floor, where the future library features a wall of windows overlooking the playground.

Wildwood librarian Susan Wells has been carefully planning out the process of housing the 21,000 books — 17,000 from Wildwood and the remainder from the neighboring Fort River. She has determined that higher shelves will hold fiction, while middle shelves will feature graphic novels. This layout information will be essential to the moving company.

“They have to know what goes where before they move it,” Wells said.

While the library won’t feature the well that is in the libraries at both Fort River and Wildwood, a fully accessible seating area will be incorporated. Wells also had input in where the circulation desk will be located.

Entering through the main doors, visitors find a first floor equipped with a music room, cafetorium with space for 200 children at each of three lunch sittings, with a large bank of windows on one side. Across the hall sit the principal’s office and the main office.

Nearby is the gymnasium, where basketball hoops are already installed. Acoustic wall paneling is still to come, and the wood flooring is currently acclimating to the interior humidity before being laid down. The front of the building can be closed off from the classroom wings for community events.

One of the prominent features is the color-coded tiles used for wayfinding across the three stories; the colors in each hallway carry through into the classroom walls.

Outside, solar canopies are being assembled over the future parking lot. While the basketball courts, rain garden and stormwater system are still in progress, the playground is already in place. It features Corkeen, an accessible, environmentally-friendly surface.

District 1 Councilor Cathy Schoen, who chaired the building committee, said it’s been used in Scandinavian countries and held up well.

Others on the tour included Town Council President Mandi Jo Hanneke, District 2 Councilor Lynn Griesemer and District 4 Councilor Pam Rooney, Town Clerk Amber Martin and Recreation Director Rey Harp.

Griesemer said that she championed net-zero energy bylaw and was thrilled to see how the geothermal wells and other aspects of the green building are done.

Harp said because Amherst Recreation has so many programs focused on youth, he wanted to get a sense of the opportuntiies the building will offer.

Rooney noted the widespread support the project has received from residents, and she liked seeing the excitement among her constituents, including the parents who were on the tour.

“This is very uplifting,” Rooney said.