Students from Iroquois High School will begin rebuilding the partially collapsed Sunnyhill Pavillion in Iroquois Park this fall. The year-long program will allow students first hand accounts of the management and construction of historic community structure.
In exchange for free labor, students will work with professionals from Metro Parks and the Olmsted Parks Conservancy and serve as primary construction managers. Responsibilities include procuring construction permits, preparing shop drawings, and inspection & approval of work done by fellow students.
Emphasis will be placed on reuse of the existing structure and students will evaluate each piece of the existing building to determine if it can be salvaged. Whatever cannot be reused will be rebuilt by Iroquois High School students.
“This project gives these students an opportunity to take part in something that will benefit our community for decades to come,” Abramson said in a statement. “More importantly, it will give them a chance to get out of the classroom and put their lessons to use in the field. We hope some of these students will someday be leading improvements in parks and other facilities as construction management professionals.”
Students will restore the historic original design of the Sunnyhill Pavillion, peeling away decades of minor changes and disrepair. A $197,500 grant from the National Park Service’s Save America’s Treasures program will pay for the restoration.
Preliminary work began over the summer to structurally stabilize the building and block off a set of 1950s-era basement restrooms that were replaced nearby in 2007. A temporary construction driveway was also installed that will be removed when construction wraps up next fall.
The Sunnyhill Pavillion restoration represents a continued effort to revitalize Iroquois Park. Since 2003, over $10 million has been spent to restore the Iroquois Amphitheater and build a new playground & sprayground in the park.
