Announcing the Hemlock Area STEM Center - Construction Underway!

FIRST General Forum
#1

FRC Team 5712 “Gray Matter” and Hemlock Public Schools is proud to announce the construction of the Hemlock Area STEM Center. The STEM Center is a 5700sqft facility that will be located adjacent to Hemlock High School in Hemlock, MI, and will be home to all of Hemlock Public Schools Robotics programs (FLL, FTC, and FRC), as well as a shared workspace for FRC teams from 5 other local schools.

The facility will feature a full-size regulation FRC field (which can be reconfigured to accommodate FTC and FLL practice space as needed), a 15’x60’ workshop space with a Mezzanine above for storage. Additionally, the center will have secured storage cages for each team to store their equipment, and plenty of work tables for a variety of projects.

Inside Layout Concept:
View 1, View 2
Technical Design Documents

From the website:

At the new STEM Center, students will be able to practice a variety of STEM education skillsets, such as coding, computer-aided design and fabrication. FIRST Robotics programs from supported schools will also use the STEM Center as a build and practice arena.

High-school students will be able to determine if a STEM career is right for them – whether they are college-bound or entering the workforce right away – by receiving mentoring from professionals in industries such as engineering, farming and manufacturing.

In addition, the STEM Center will provide a positive and safe environment in which to cultivate academic achievement and instill a sense of pride within students.

Anyone interested in watching the build can check out our livestream from the construction site.

Feel free to ask any questions here, or follow along on our social media:
YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and our Website.

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#2

This is really cool! I’m sure you guys are eager to move in. When do they expect it to be completed?

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#3

We haven’t gotten an updated timeline yet since COVID has messed with the schedule (we were supposed to break ground back in March), but I’ll be sure to update when we get it. That said, we expect it to be completed by this Fall. The Contractor in charge of the project (Pumford Construction) is a local company (that we have a great relationship with), as well as a sponsor, so they’re very exited to complete the project as soon as possible.

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#4

Very nice. We have debated such a project with in the teams mentors.

Looks like you did a fantastic job of fundraising.

We have never had a build site on school property.

What will be the access rules? 24/7 or will there be stipulations like school personnel required. What if schools are closed? Snow days or Covid days.

#5

Most team Mentors will have 24/7 badge access to the building, and we’ll likely make arrangements for area teams using the shared spaces to have some sort of access as well (though the specifics of this has yet to be determined).

Currently our school district allows us to work on Snow Days as long as we stipulate the meetings are “not mandatory” and that parents/students should prioritize safety when deciding whether or not to come in. COVID access is a different story though, since the State of Michigan mandated a total shutdown of all school buildings and activities, so we really don’t have much choice in the matter (hopefully they’ll be reopened in at least some capacity by the fall).

#6

5712
5700sqft

Is that just approx? Why not another 12sqft?

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#7

Hah, I hadn’t even noticed that! Technically 5700 is an approximation, so who knows? Maybe we’ll have to have them extend the loft by a foot or something to make it perfect. :joy:

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#8

Team 5700 the SOTA cyberdragons highly approves of the square footage.

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#9

Timelapse of the progress so far. Work resumes tomorrow!

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#10

Flooring Insulation is going in today!
(In case you hadn’t noticed from page 17 of the Technical Design Documents, the building will have in-floor heating!)

Also, providing all else goes well, we’re expecting framing to begin in the next week or two!

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