NDA’s latest renovation is almost complete, bringing major changes to the building.  Supply chain issues, however, will prevent the heating and cooling system from being operational until later in the school year.

Students and staff might notice the ceilings have been lowered by a few inches, but the rest of the changes are subtle.

“The majority of what we did is all hidden behind the walls or above the ceilings in the Maryhill wing of the building,” explained Jeffrey Gracyalny, who is the Owner’s Representative for the HVAC Upgrades Project.

Besides the lowered ceilings, the building now has new ceiling systems, LED lighting and hot/cold water for the heating and cooling system.

While the new heating and cooling system has been installed, it will not be operational until the new rooftop Air Handling Unit arrives in the fall.

“The new rooftop Air Handling Unit, which was ordered almost a year ago, is not due to ship from the manufacturer until late September. It will then take another four to six weeks to complete the installation and testing. This unit is key to the entire system because it supplies fresh air to all of the rooms for both cooling and heating,” said Gracyalny.

The biggest challenge with the renovation, according to Gracyalny, was staying on schedule.

“There were days in the middle of July that I would walk through the second floor and see structural steel being welded right in the same place that students would be sitting four weeks later,” he explained.

To stay on schedule, Gracyalny spent most of his time at NDA during the summer months.

“I typically made site visits every morning for a few hours to connect with the various contractors and attend the weekly construction meetings.”

Gracyalny was given the role of Owner’s Representative for the HVAC Upgrades Project after having a “long 25-year relationship with NDA.”

“All three of my children attended and graduated from NDA in the early 2000s. I was also on the NDA Board of Education in the mid-2000s, and I have been on the Building and Grounds Committee since the late 1990s,” he said.

Gracyalny was offered his role after being approached by the NDA Administration during the Building and Grounds meeting in January last year.

Gracyalny believes that he was asked to help out because he was able to “dedicate the time and effort required” after selling his business and retiring.

“All of us at NDA appreciate his coordination of all the work,” said veteran English teacher Carolyn Brown.  “He kept apologizing for all the noise outside my room in the priory, but the disturbance was minimal in comparison to the vastness of the project. His expertise and time commitment was quite a gift to NDA.”