A dozen juniors with Euclid High School recently got a chance to see the ongoing renovations taking place at the Euclid Public Library location on East 222nd Street. Although it is still closed to the general public, a partnership with the high school’s Construction Management Program gave student s some insight not only on what their future space will look like, but also in what a career in the trades would be like. Library Director Kacie Armstrong, who was also touring the renovations this week with staff members, said the last official day for their temporary location on East 185th Street will be April 3. Once Turner Construction turns the keys over back to library staff it will take them until the end of May to move their collection back and train staff on the new building systems. Then, the grand re-opening set for June 6. Workers with the Euclid Public Library get ready for their own tour during a Feb. 19 event. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald) Since the original part of the building was last upgraded in the 1950’s, the building has had limited electrical outlets, she said. Now, as the public has more devices to charge, they have expanded power access for the public along with increased WiFi capacity. “When any of our library users walk in they will see a completely brand new building,” Armstrong said. “Not only will there the paint and a new ceiling, but they will see new desks, new tables, and chairs, all of the finishes. It will be almost unrecognizable.… A new interactive children’s wall, an early ‘crawler’ space for our littlest visitors, a business resource center, so there will be all kinds of new things to see and do.” The inside of the Euclid Public Library is pictured in the midst of renovations on Feb. 19. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald) Courtney Barnes, the marketing and communications manager for the library, walks other workers through the updated building on E. 222nd Street. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald) Tyrone Williams, a site superintendent for Turner Construction, said that the most noticeable difference that they have made to the structure will be hidden away, as many of the updates were in changing the heating and cooling, adding security cameras and updating the electrical infrastructure and other building systems. He said that being able to have high school kids come in and talk with some of the workers was fulfilling and they might end up in the company someday as they have previously hired new graduates. “I think it’s awesome having the kids come over,” Williams said. “As we walk around I have them actually talk to a couple of the workers, and have the workers talk to them about how they were brought into the trade and some lessons learned that they learned over the years…” “We actually hire right out of high school, a couple groups in the area who are interested in the trade come and tour, and once they are done with high school and got their diploma they come work for Turner or another company that we work with. Over the years we’ve hired a few hundred people, right out of high school, going through that path.” Workers with the Euclid Public Library take a tour of the staff areas on Feb. 19. (Frank Mecham- The News-Herald) Tom Roseum, the teacher for the CTE Construction Management Program, said students have been able to come by about once a month, and because of how close it was to the high school, about a block away, they have been able to use it to gain some idea of how a constriction sites change over time. “It’s real life, it’s real world, there’s only so much that we can do in the classroom and fortunately the library actually approached us to be a part of it,” Roseum said. “But it gives students an opportunity to see how a project is moving along, all the way, and quite frankly there is not a lot of construction companies or construction sites that are willing to let students into the site to see what’s going on. You can walk around the outside, but you can’t get in to see the nuts and bolts of it.” He said the career technical program that the students are enrolled in gives them a head start on the state carpenters apprenticeship program but even if students don’t even up in that trade they will be able to learn other skills. “It gives them an opportunity to explore a whole bunch of different parts of the trades,” Roseum said. “Also, the management part of it because a lot of students want to go into that. We have quite a few students who want to go into interior design and the collages are strongly suggest that they take a construction program in high school, so they know what they are getting into once they are in college. “There’s lots of different directions they can go,” he added. “And some of them get in here and decide they want to do something else, and that’s OK because what they learn here they will take with them for the rest of their lives. “It’s just an incredible opportunity. It’s unfortunately an opportunity that most of my future students won’t have.” ...read more read less