Introduction: Why Blog?

Epic Intro:
I never really appreciated what goes into building something, whether it be a bench, house, school, or skyscraper for that matter. I've never really been one to build things with my own hands, except for Legos or a popsicle stick house in elementary school. The way I see it there are really only two steps when it comes to building something successfully: Planning it and physically building it. Without planning you will have crappy results...for the most part. I'm sure an unplanned child is a blessing to many, anyways...simply put, this blog will follow the construction of a charter high school in Huntington Park.

What I would like to do with this blog is showcase the construction of the project on a weekly basis and give status updates so the reader can see what goes on behind the scenes when building a school. We have passed the predevelopment phase so this will solely be construction. This blog will also allow me have fun with photography, which is something I really enjoying doing. I promise it wont have boring detail just the fun stuff.

Boring Mini Bio:
Not to bore anyone, but I will give some background as to who I am and what my background is and more importantly why I am doing this blog. Throughout my life I have wanted "to be" many different things. In elementary I wanted to be an astronaut, in middle school I wanted to be a drummer, in high school I didn't know what I wanted to be and in college I wanted to be a photographer. I soon realized i was scared of heights and didn't want to get launched into space. I soon realized I must own a drum set to be a drummer. I soon realized that doing nothing really doesn't work out. Lastly I realized that I had bills to pay and I would have to get a job and taking pictures of flowers and my dog wasn't going to be sufficient. I sound pessimistic but i'm really an optimistic person and will definitely start off as an optimist for this project. I just hope I stay optimistic and will put one of my favorite song lines to the test: "Isn't it funny how ones compassion diminishes when his or her own perils rise?" - The Devil Wears Prada ( the band not the movie...)

Long story short, I was recruited my my brother years ago to file binders for a non-profit organization that developed charter schools in Los Angeles for charter school operators. Since then I have gained some knowledge of what it takes to build a charter school and I now have a charter school project which I am managing for a charter school organization. I feel lucky and blessed to know that my boss fully trusts me in taking the lead in managing this project and seeing it be completed come June 2014. I never saw myself building schools and I have never really had the pleasure of building one myself so I can bluntly say I am taking a lot of pride with this one.

Project Information:
Here is some project information along with some renderings and a panorama of the empty lot.

Location: Huntington Park, CA
Type of School: Public Charter High School
Number of Students: 960
Number of Classrooms:18
Size of Property: 34,000 sq. ft.
Previous use of Property: Car Repair Shop
Completion of School: June 2014

Empty lot prior to grading

Thanks for reading and I will post another update soon since this one should have been last week. We have started tearing the asphalt and concrete apart since last week so I will edit my photos and add them in my next post.

-BG