The campus of Chattanooga Middle Museum Magnet will get a makeover this summer as school officials prepare it to become the Normal Park Upper School.
Jill Levine, principal of Normal Park Museum Magnet, unveiled a plan Tuesday at the North Chattanooga Council of the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce to renovate the nearly 80-year-old building using donated labor and materials.
“We’re pairing contractors, designers, a parent, a teacher, a student and a team of volunteers for each classroom,” Ms. Levine said.
The project, called Bring it Together, is in the recruitment stage, and Ms. Levine said she is looking for more contractors, designers and volunteers to make over the building’s 35 spaces.
John Straussberger of the Strauss Co., a North Chattanooga construction company, has signed on to renovate the library, Ms. Levine said. Sexton and HGH construction companies also have volunteered their services, she said.
Each team will have the week of June 23 to complete its project. On June 29, Ms. Levine will host an open house, and Hunt Nissan will award prizes for the best rooms.
Josh McManus, creative strategist for CreateHere, is spearheading the project, and he plans to take a week of vacation to do so. Mr. McManus, who has no children, said he drives by Normal Park each day on his way to work and has been impressed with what goes on at the school.
“Jill (Levine) told me there would be only limited resources available from the county (to renovate Chattanooga Middle), so I thought it would be fascinating to see what the community could do if it came together,” he said.
Mr. McManus said he would like to lead similar makeover ventures each summer in other public spaces such as parks or community centers.
“We have to feel this out and see whether schools are the answer, but the project should always be in places that are of mutual benefit for the community,” he said.
Alison Lebovitz, a Normal Park parent, is marketing and public relations coordinator for Bring it Together.
“There are such wonderful, creative things going on inside Normal Park that the second the kids walk through the doors at the upper school, we want them to know that it’s a place for creativity and discovery,” she said. “It really translates into what they’re going to be learning every day through the wonderful staff.”
At the end of Ms. Levine’s presentation, officials with the North Chattanooga Council presented her with a $3,000 check. Mr. McManus said project leaders had not determined a fundraising goal.
In December, the Hamilton County Board of Education approved a plan to combine Normal Park and Chattanooga Middle. In August, there will be an upper and lower school, with the current Normal Park serving prekindergarten through third grade and the current Chattanooga Middle Museum Magnet School building housing grades four through eight.
BRING IT TOGETHER
* What: Weeklong renovation of Chattanooga Middle Museum Magnet campus
* How: Donated materials and labor
* Who: Contractors, designers, parents, teachers, students and community members
* When: June 23 to 28
HOW TO HELP
For more information on donating money or volunteering to help with Bring it Together, contact Josh McManus at 544-9455 or joshmcmanus@mac.com.
Kelli Gauthier covers K-12 education in Hamilton County for the Times Free Press. She started at the paper as an intern in 2006, crisscrossing the region writing feature stories from Pikeville, Tenn., to Lafayette, Ga. She also covered crime and courts before taking over the education beat in 2007. A native of Frederick, Md., Kelli came south to attend Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in print journalism. Before newspapers, ...
