Katrina-ravaged School Moving for the Last Time, Relocating to a New Facility

July 22, 2010 - PRLog -- Over 50 uniformed workers from The Quality Group, a moving company specializing in office and industrial moves, could be seen traversing the halls of Salmen High in Slidell, La., July 6th through 9th, working to relocate the contents of the school's temporary buildings to the newly constructed elevated buildings just a hundred yards away.

With the beginning of the school year just a few weeks away workers executed the move plan in a timely manner allowing the school's staff ample time to prepare classrooms for the first day of school August 7th.

Terri Wortmann, Salmen High School principal, was amazed that the move could be completed in the allotted four days considering contractors were still prowling the halls, elevators were still being tested and a driving rain storm hindered the move.

"Elevator problems, rain, they dealt with it and kept moving," Wortmann said. "They worked around all those conditions. When the elevators shut down, they started wheeling it up ramps. They managed it, and they didn't complain."

The move is the final step in an odyssey that saw Salmen staff move several times as the St. Tammany Parish School Board adjusted to the devastation caused by Katrina. The move to the state-of-art building raised almost ten feet above the ground will be the last for Salmen staff and was made much easier by the hiring of an experienced moving company.

"We've moved ourselves before. After the hurricane, we didn't have anything to move. When we went into Northshore High School, we were there for about three months," Wortmann explains. "Then we started to gather some books and materials and teaching supplies. Then we moved to the Junior High. We moved ourselves. Our maintenance staff did. It was mass confusion. And, we didn't have much. And then when we moved from there to the temporary campus again our maintenance staff did it. Everything was moved into one place and everybody just kind of had to find what belonged to them. It was chaos."

Now with over 1,200 desks, 78 teachers’ desks, 300 computers, a library full of books, several pianos and drum sets, relying on staff to relocate the school would not have been feasible, despite the new facility being just a hundred yards away from the temporary buildings.

"I definitely do not think we could do a move like this on our own. I am really glad the district decided to hire them to do it for us," Wortmann added.

Despite her concerns about how some of the specialty items would be handled, Wortmann felt at ease once she saw that the Quality Group had the experience and the proper equipment to handle the move.

Wortmann was particularly concerned about moving the ROTC rifles, but upon hearing Joseph DiGiovanni, owner and president of the Quality Group, speak to her staff about proper packing of items, she felt at ease.

"He met with staff members about specialty items. The ROTC has these rifles. He explained to them how they were supposed to be packed," she said. "Then, he had all the equipment. He had containers that made it able to move safely."

DiGiovanni believes that experience handling similar moves allows his move managers to develop a plan to efficiently complete the job. This experience, along with his company’s ability to provide the correct equipment and to deploy over fifty workers to a site, allows the Quality Group to meet the demands of specialty moves.

"Having the right equipment is essential," DiGiovanni added. "This is the third school we have done for St. Tammany Parish School Board, in addition to the school board's headquarters in Covington. We have the experience and the equipment to complete moves like this one."

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The Quality Group Inc. (QG) was formed in 1987 to provide businesses and government agencies with the finest move management and relocation services. The Quality Group focuses on commercial moves with experience moving a variety of facility types, including offices, warehouses, hospitals, laboratories, libraries, schools and museums. With Branches in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, and affiliates throughout the United States, the Quality Group is able to facilitate office and industrial moves throughout the South.