Basic HTML Version
there. In addition to the construction of
a gymnasium and proper theater, we need
to renovate the classrooms and make some
internal changes to the existing building to
make it a better school. The new gym and
theater will be located on the current sports
field and the sports field will be moved
to an even larger area behind the school.
First, we will relocate the current sports
field and then we will build the gym and
theater. By the way, we plan to put a tunnel
under the road so that the students can
access the gym and theater without having
to cross over the busy street in front of the
school. All in all, this will make the facility
in Ain Aar an even better school facility!
We’re going to follow the same successful
model that we used in Ras Beirut. The first
step was the completion of the master plan.
Next will be fund raising from alumni, par-
ents, and friends. When we have enough
funds, we’ll begin the construction. This
process took about four years in Ras Beirut
and I anticipate the same amount of time
for Ain Aar. We actually started the master
plan process for both campuses at the same
time, but ran into a major zoning issue at
Ain Aar. This was successfully resolved last
year so we were able to complete the master
plan there as a result.
Q:What is next in store for the Ras Beirut
campus?
We really have great plans for the rest of
the Ras Beirut Campus. First, the Board
approved the design of two new middle and
preschool buildings. We are well into the
design process and we are working hard at
raising funds for these two new buildings.
Hopefully, we will be able to break ground
for them and the new construction in Ain
Aar sometime in the early part of the next
school year. Of course, the funding is the
key to going forward on both campuses.
The plan for Ras Beirut is to build an
entirely new middle school building and an
additional preschool building at the same
time. When completed it will enable the
preschool to increase its space by 100% and
add a number of special areas that we are
missing now. We’ll house the preschool in
the existing building and the new preschool
building. The new middle school building
will hold the entire middle school. Sage
Hall, where the middle school is currently
housed, will be renovated and become an
arts building to serve both the middle and
secondary schools. The last part of this
plan is to renovate Rockefeller Hall which
houses the secondary school.
All of the above refers to IC’s short range
plans. In addition, we have long term plans
which call for putting some special facilities
like a swimming pool, theater, cafeteria,
etc. under the existing soccer field. Like I
said, these are “long term” and we can wait
awhile before getting into the specifics of
these as we have enough excitement for the
immediate future!