Project Partners Celebrate Topping Out of Arizona High School
By Eric Althoff
PHOENIX—Staff members of general contractor McCarthy Building Companies and architect Orcutt | Winslow joined staff from the Glendale Union High School District to salute the topping out of the second phase of construction work at Sunnyslope High School. The event featured the final beam being placed atop the frame of the three-story building.
Phase 2 commenced in May of 2022. Among the initial necessary work to prep the site were demolition of older buildings on the campus to make way for the three-story, 100,000-square-foot classroom structure. That building will entail over 40 classrooms as well as a library, art education rooms and science laboratories. Additional work for McCarthy and Orcutt | Winslow encompasses revising Sunnyslope’s athletic facilities, including applying new turf on the football field and renovating the school’s baseball and softball fields. The firms will also resurface the running track, as well as install new spectator bleachers.
McCarthy completed Phase 1 work in only seven months, allowing the new spaces to open in time for the 2021-2022 school year. That work included buildout of a 72,000-square-foot classroom entailing 33 classrooms as well spaces set aside for the student ROTC program and choir and band instruction.
Phase 2 is anticipated to be finished in time for this fall. Funds for the updates to the Sunnyslope High School campus were approved by voters in 2020.
McCarthy’s subcontractors on the project include Procon Professional Concrete, Mark’s Valley Grading, Hawkeye Electrical, Sunburst Landscaping, Sun Valley Masonry, MKB/Capture, Graywolf, Midstate Mechanical and Pete King Construction.
Brandon Gonzalez, project manager for McCarthy, said that the topping out marks a major milestone in his team’s work at Sunnyslope. Next up, the contractor told School Construction News that his experts will shift to MEP systems and the building enclosure itself.
“Within these next activities come challenges to mitigate water infiltration, start-up and commissioning of MEP systems, and remaining site work activities,” Gonzalez said. “Our team is consistently pre-planning these activities to reach a safe and on-time completion for our client.”
Added Antonya Williams, who leads the education services team with McCarthy: “The excitement on campus over the past two years as students, faculty and staff have watched the campus transform and experience the new classrooms completed with Phase 1 has been energizing.
“Achieving the topping out of the newest building marks another major milestone for the Sunnyslope community, and we’re proud to be able to celebrate with them as we move closer to the completion of this incredible project and prepare to welcome new students this fall.”
McCarthy has been in business for over 150 years and operates from offices in such cities as St. Louis, Atlanta, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Denver and Phoenix.