When Hurricane Ian ravaged Southwest Florida, Hector A. Cafferata Jr. Elementary School in Cape Coral was one of three Lee County Schools that suffered significant damage during the storm, preventing students from returning when the rest of the District went back to class. The students were split up with K-2 temporarily going to Hancock Creek Elementary School and grades 3-5 going to Pelican Elementary, both five miles away in opposite directions.Since Johnson Engineering is on Lee County School District’s continuing services contract, they reached out to us with an urgent plea to help design a temporary portable campus adjacent to the existing school on Cape Coral Technical College’s property. The area was intended for the college’s eventual expansion but luckily was available to accommodate this need for 46 portables to bring the students back together again.
Johnson Engineering has been working with the School District for decades, which allowed our Director of Development, Dana Hume, PE to hit the ground running, working around the clock with Cotton Global Disaster Solutions, BSSW Architects, TLC Engineering, the School District staff, and Principal Dr. Jason Kurtz, to quickly get the campus designed, permitted, and ready for students. Together, this team took what is typically a six-month project, and got these students back together under one roof in an astonishing 52 days. It was a job well done by an experienced team to accomplish this feat. It was an especially nice gift for students to go into their Christmas break knowing they would all be together again to start the new year.
For more information contact Dana Hume, PE at [email protected]
