Projects Maumus Center

Maumus Center

Historic Renovation | Addition | Educational

As always, Gibbs Construction has resolved difficult problems professionally, and delivered the project on time for the St. Bernard Parish School Board.
-Albert J. Carey, Jr. AIA | St. Bernard Parish School Board Representative

St. Bernard Parish School Board awarded Gibbs the low-bid contract as general contractor for the Maumus Center. The scope included a combination of new construction and the historic renovations of the original Arabi Elementary School, dating back to the 1920s. The two-acre site is a hands-on art and science learning center for the children in this community.

A dominant scope of this historic renovation in the existing 28,000 square foot, two-story, wood-framed, and load-bearing brick structure, encompassed the revitalization of the Art Deco theatre. This performance space received new terrazzo flooring, electronically controlled auditorium seating, and a surround sound system. A team of specialized painters, commissioned to paint the famous Saenger Theatre in New Orleans, restored the hand-painted ceiling. Master craftsmen refurbished the original plaster capitals and arched plaster trim on the proscenium wall. Wood framing members were salvaged, remilled and applied as new hardwood flooring in the new north wing art exhibit and event flex space. New electrical floor receptacles were inlaid throughout to showcase individual art installations.

Additionally, the new construction of a two-story annex building, tied into the adjacent historic structure by a new atrium boasting a modern architectural glass canopy, provides Maumus with rich technologically forward classrooms and support spaces. New areas added to this campus included a 2,400 square foot full-service commercial kitchen with walk-in coolers and freezers, student food science labs, and a 3,100 square foot cafeteria enveloped with an aluminum-glazed storefront. The new neighboring 3,400 square foot cylindrical planetarium, skinned in scale-like metal panels, provide students an intense experience of our galaxy in an atypical classroom setting. This advanced high-tech space houses reclining auditorium seating with specialty fish-eye projectors and a state-of-the-art surround sound system immersing students into a captivating galactic experience.

The true finishing touches of this one-of-a-kind institution lie in the outdoor student-grown vegetable garden. On the south side of campus, a wrought iron fenced yard containing concrete-walled planters, equipped with drip irrigation systems, add to the tactile learning experience this center has to offer. Here students learn about the science of agriculture which is heavily dictated by seasons. For this reason, a covered learning area, understatedly referred to as the “garden shed,” literally and metaphorically sheds light on the subject of seasons. Here an award-winning terrazzo floor was laid, containing over 100 tiny brass pins, strips and words which make up the meticulously laid components of a working sundial. This architectural piece accurately indicates the time and date with a beam of sunlight that shines through an oculus of the shed’s roof. The construction team’s quality control process and attention to detail became imperative to successfully implement an accurately functioning learning tool and to maintain the architect’s design intention.

Maumus Center now provides a recovering parish school system with a novelty hands-on learning facility. This project has left Gibbs with added lasting experience and knowledge of the importance of collaboration and teamwork through the ultimate opportunity to build this eclectic experiential educational facility.