Instant School

from The Arizona Republic

Let's do a little word association with modular construction.

You're saying, "Trailers. Cheap-looking. Temporary. Inferior."

Not too long ago, such a generalization would have been correct. Modular construction was all of that and less, deserving of a shabby reputation that has proved difficult to shake.

Mike Morton is trying. As the president of Phoenix-based Modular Technology, Morton says he is battling an image problem similar to the one that Asian auto makers used to have. His company is building attractive, sturdy schools but can't get past the perception that modular means mediocre, at best.

Skeptics might wish to visit the new Chandler Traditional Academy, Liberty Campus. The 38,000-square-foot magnet school is a direct response by the Chandler district to the charter school phenomenon. It was largely built off-site at Modular Tech's 20-acre plant in north Phoenix and was moved in 50 pieces to Chandler.

CTA Liberty is no trailer park. The $3 million facility's structure and studs are steel. It has concrete flooring, and the same materials used on traditional site-built construction. Chancellor Charter School at West Gilbert, also built by Modular Tech, sits less than half a mile from CTA Liberty.

About 75 percent of 18-year-old Modular Tech's business nowadays is in school construction, although it builds bank facilities, gold clubhouses and other commercial structures.

The company entered a new phase in 1990 with the construction of a two-story facility for the Bob Bondurant driving school in Chandler.

"We were forced into permanent construction because that's what our customers wanted," Morton said. "They wanted the speed of modular, but something that was the same quality as site-built construction."

For growing school districts such as Chandler's, time is of the essence and that's the real savings of modular. CTA Liberty required six months to design and build. A site-constructed facility would have taken at least twice that long.

The 15-acre site near Chandler Boulevard and Gilbert Road hadn't been cleared by April, yet the school opened on time on the last day of July for more than 300 K-6 students. That's as close as it gets to instant school.

"It's not really cheaper, it's just quicker," said Don Shelley, CTA Liberty's principal. "It's all steel construction, it's just built in pieces."

Lela Alston Elementary School, in the Isaac district in west Phoenix, was constructed by Modular Tech as the first design/build project funded primarily by Students FIRST money.

The 40,500-square-foot facility had to meet the guidelines of the School Facilities Board, same as any site-built project.

Debbie Hutson, principal of the two-year-old school, said visitors to Alston can't get over how attractive it is.

"I came from a school that had portables, and this is a completely different ball game," Hutson said. "The long haul remains to be seen, but we don't have any indication there will be a problem".

Although Morton said his company's schools have at least a 50-year life span, doubters of modular remain.

Chandler did its homework before building CTA Liberty, according to Jeanette Polvani, the district's assistant superintendent in charge of construction. Polvani said the district is pleased with the result.

The modular method "seemed very comparable to site-built steel-and-stucco buildings," she said. "We could not find a lot of differences."

In response to the durability question, Modular Tech might point to two 20,000-square-foot school buildings that sit in the New York City boroughs of Queens and the Bronx, complete with anti-graffiti coating and other heavy-duty reinforcements.

The company used 50 trucks to get the buildings from Phoenix to New York over a 10-day period in 1997. En route, the buildings survived a rollover near Flagstaff and the challenge of making it across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Still, the image problem remains. Modular Tech has contemplated changing its name to strike the M-word, but for now it's standing pat.

As Morton asked, "What happens in 20 years when clients go to the Yellow Pages to look up 'modular' because that's the preferred construction method, and we're not listed there? We think we'll stick with it.

"It's like when the first import cars came here. Now they're preferred. They're reliable and low-maintenance. I think it will be the same for us."

The Arizona Republic, October 20, 2002