On the first day of most sports practices and the beginning of the year for the majority of teachers, Skyline High School and the surrounding area was affected by yet another roadblock on the way to substantial progress in the school’s renovation, which began this summer.

Though instead of a roadblock, it was a pipeline; a gas pipeline. Construction crews accidentally hit a service line that fed gas to Skyline High School at about 10:00 the morning of Monday, August 25, 2008, which set the staff and students into a frenzy. Sports, such as cross country, had to divert to the softball field to hear Coach Hyland’s speech, teachers were forced to wait in the back of the school, and even Southeast Eighth Street, which runs perpendicular to 228th, was closed for about a half hour until Puget Sound Energy was able to shut off the valve.

A chain link fence and sign are all that stop the hundreds of drivers daily from entering the restricted construction zone at Skyline High School.

Photo credit: Sammamish Review

Many students in the area reported smelling the gas, even as far away as the tennis courts. Cross country runner and The Plateau Times contributor Jeff Lestz referred to the odor as, “terribly pungent and indescribable.” He later added, “it was like the smell of a school science experiment where you aren’t exactly sure how much chemical to put in, so you just put a lot in and forget about it. That kind of a smell, I guess.”

Though this incident delayed crews for less than an hour, it is just one more setback in the school’s reconstruction progress. The school got off to a bad start after it started work prior to receiving city building permits in early-July, which the contractor was forced to stop until they eventually received permission a couple of days and fines later.

The current parking lot, which is capable (at last report) of holding 40 to 50 vehicles, also took a beating earlier this week when a driver straddled the newly installed divider, noticed the action and tried to remedy it by entering the correct lane. By doing so, she ruined 10 to 15 feet, leaving parts of it crooked and others shattered. It is unknown if or whether the destroyed portion of the divider will ever be fixed.

Said lot will be a madhouse this year, especially before parking spots are assigned as seniors will likely come to the school on a first-come, first-serve basis that is sure to manifest the selfish and boorish side of many drivers looking for a nonexistent spot five minutes before the first bell.

Regardless, the school will be ready to open its doors in five days to an estimated 1600 students, and a “natural gas leak alarm” probably won’t be the best way to interrupt Mr. Rosemont’s sixth period IB 20th Century History class. That is, if we even make it that far through the day without one. And if we do, we’ll have to walk the long way around to get to the stadium as the whole front part of the school is blocked off.