If you lived, worked, or shopped anywhere near the Wood Middle School campus during the past year or so, you probably heard—and maybe complained about—the booming piledrivers. That’s history now, and it’s time to enjoy the beautiful new campus that construction work created at 420 Grand Street.
[1]
On Friday, August 7, at 4 p.m., Alameda Unified School District (AUSD) will celebrate the completion of the new Wood campus at a special ribbon-cutting ceremony in the school quad—and you’re invited.
“We are very excited to open this campus to the Wood community this year,” said AUSD Superintendent Pasquale Scuderi. “The old campus was deteriorating, unattractive, and very much out of date. The beautiful new facility will provide vastly superior learning, teaching, and gathering environments to our students, teachers, and staff.”
The ribbon-cutting will feature speakers and opportunities for tours. Families and students are encouraged to walk or bike to the event. Access will be via the front gate, on the new access road, across from Rittler Park.
[2]A transformed campus
The original three-story classroom building was built in 1965. AUSD’s 2014 Master Facilities found that the structure’s interior walls, floors, ceilings, lighting, and mechanical systems had reached the end of their service life, wiring was exposed, asphalt had deteriorated, and the media center and gymnasium were too small.
Rather than modernizing the original 1965 structure, which limited the design options, the design committee chose to rebuild the campus, so that the layout could be completely re-imagined. After demolishing the old classroom building and removing three dilapidated portables, contractors drilled 411 80-foot-long concrete piles deep below the site’s bay mud fill to provide seismic stability.
Designed by Quattrocchi Kwok Architects (QKA) and built by Lathrop Construction Associates, the project replaced aging, outdated facilities with a modern campus designed to better serve the district’s students, staff, and families. The new facility replaces the old classroom building and portables with:
- Modern two-story building with 24 classrooms.
- New administration and media classroom.
- New gymnasium with an attached PE classroom.
- Four state-of-the-art science classrooms, complete with eye-wash stations, emergency showers, prep rooms, and overhead cord reels for flexible power.
- Landscaping that includes grass, turf, 6000 plants, and 130 trees.
- Multiple courtyards with benches for gathering and outdoor learning.
- Monumental outdoor stairway that can also serve as seating.
- Large shade structure.
- Solar PV canopy with 176 solar panels—enough to power 10 houses for a year.
- New campus road connecting Otis Drive and Grand Street, which will improve pick-up and drop-off safety.
- New landscaping along Grand Street.
- Parking lot with more than 70 spaces, including accessible and electric vehicle parking, which will relieve local street parking pressures in the neighborhood.
- Advanced stormwater drainage that includes sustainable bioswales and bioretention areas to clean rainwater from roofs and grounds and let it soak into the soil before excess enters the storm drain.
The entire project took 24 months. At the peak of the work, more than 100 construction workers were on the site on any given day.
“It’s exciting to work on a project like this that has such a dramatic impact on the indoor and outdoor learning environments,” said QKA Architect Joel Williams. “From the new drop-off lane that will be safer for students, to the brand-new classrooms, library, and gymnasium that frame a new academic courtyard, our hope is that students and staff will be inspired to learn and grow in new ways as a result of this project.”
[3]A community effort
The design and construction drew on the efforts of multiple partners. Wood staff, teachers, and parents were a part of the design committee. The City of Alameda granted an easement from Rittler Park for the access road. And City transportation staff worked with AUSD staff to ensure that traffic flow on that road would complement the new bikeway along Grand Street and cross traffic on Otis Drive.
“We are grateful for the City’s partnership on this project,” Superintendent Scuderi said. “As a district, we want our facilities to integrate well with City projects and cause as little disruption to neighborhoods as possible.”
Who paid for it?
AUSD used revenue from Measure B, the $298 million facilities bond approved by voters in 2022, to fund the new campus.
“We are incredibly grateful to the Alameda community for their generous approval of our 2022 bond measure,” said AUSD Board President Ryan LaLonde. “This revenue is allowing us to build beautiful, safe, up-to-date facilities for our students and staff—facilities can be a source of pride and excitement for our entire community.”
Measure B revenue is also funding a new athletic field and gym for Encinal Jr. & Sr. High School; a new swim center for Alameda High School; upgrades to Kofman auditorium; a new campus for Otis Elementary School; and modernization of classrooms at Alameda High School, Encinal Jr. & Sr. High School; and the existing gym at Encinal.