Manteca’s oldest elementary school campus — Lincoln School — is safer, more secure, and remodeled to educate students of the 21st century.
The finishing touches are being put on the first wave of Measure G projects over the next three months including the campus that was built in 1947 that now fronts Powers Avenue.
It arguably is the biggest overhaul of the five campuses — the others are Golden West, Lathrop, Shasta, and Sequoia — that were the benefactors from $56.4 million work of work made possible by Manteca Unified voters approving the bond measure in 2014. The last modernization at the 10.69-acre campus took place on 1989.
Students are now using the multipurpose room designed to serve lunch, accommodate physical education classes and sports as well as school assemblies.
A new office was built on the corner of the multi-purpose room. That allowed for three things to happen:
uThe reorientation of the campus from Yosemite Avenue to Powers Avenue to reduce traffic congestion before and after school while increasing student safety.
uAllowing a campus configuration where all people entering the campus must pass by the office to enhance security.
uTo have the office at the same location as the most universally used building on campus — the multipurpose room.
The older circular driveway that barely could accommodate five cars has been replaced with a longer driveway in front of the new multi-purpose room and office. This has allowed for safer  movements onto and off of Powers Avenue as well as a less congested and safer bus drop-off zone.
There are four additional permanent classrooms bringing the number to 27. Of the original 19 portables, seven that were deemed excessively worn and too costly to keep that are way beyond their expected 20-year life were targeted for removal leaving 12 portables that had any work deemed necessary done leaving an overall total of 39 classrooms. Some portables originally targeted for removal are being kept at the various campuses such as Lincoln School for auxiliary programs such as Give Every Child a Chance tutoring space and clothes closets.
Classrooms have been remodeled from floor to ceiling and have new cabinetry and other touches. Wherever conditions called for it walls were removed and wiring and such upgraded.
The main hallway that at one time could have been described as aged, dark and slightly dingy looks like a 21st century space. Flooring was removed allowing the concrete beneath to be polished to create the “industrial look” popular in many cutting edge modern building designs.
The old office that at one time had been expanded into the hallway was removed and converted into a classroom.
The district saw the opportunity to use a room that originally housed a boiler and then a more modern heating and air conditioning mechanical system to be converted into a classroom by taking advantage of changing technology that allowed new units to be placed on the roof. The Lincoln upgrade includes state-of-the-art thermostats that can be remotely controlled and programmed to maximize energy efficiency
The project was designed to keep the “historic front” with its 1950s architectural look along Yosemite Avenue intact. Even though the old entrance is still in place it can’t be accessed by the public.
Infrastructure such as water and sewer lines as well as buried electrical service needed for the bond work was put in place in such a manner to allow future classroom wings to be added if the district decides to do so at a future date.
Manteca Unified is hoping to snag roughly $23 million in reimbursement for the five state approved projects assuming their requests are processed before the bond money approved by state voters in November is exhausted. Once the district obtains the $23 million it will go to other school construction in a bid to maximize what can be done with the $159 million Measure G bond authorized by local voters.
District staff is expected to recommend to the school board in the coming months to authorize work to start in earnest on plans for the next wave of projects that will include work at Neil Hafley, French Camp, and George McParland.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabukletin.com