The recent major capital improvements to the Maxine Waters Employment Preparation Center have made it into a world-class center for occupational education in childcare occupations, licensed vocational nursing, certified nursing, welding, general construction, automotive trades, culinary arts and other fields that can assist local residents in preparing for good-paying careers.
All major construction projects have challenges to overcome during the duration of the project. This project team remained focused on delivering the project on time for the school opening ceremonies in September 2008. They were able to include significant increases to the scope of the project that were requested after construction had already started, while keeping the delivery schedule required for school opening. Their responsiveness to these new requirements allowed the size of the welding shop to be doubled and four additional hydraulic auto lifts to be added to the building so more deserving students in the area could be trained.
When the increased number of welding stations did not produce the expected ventilation rates, a plan was quickly developed that allowed half of the stations to remain in operation while the mechanical engineer developed a new design. That redesign effort is underway and a separate safety inspection has verified that air quality in the spaces meets all safety standards. The school is open, students are in class learning new trades, and any issues that arise after occupancy of any new building will be addressed and corrected.
-LAUSD Facilities Services Division
