Arcade Elementary Maintenance
Arcade Elementary consists of over 112,000 square feet with 60 classrooms, a 550-person auditorium, gymnasium, and 3,200-square foot storage annex building. The original building was constructed in 1927 with additions in 1939, 1953, 1957 and 1989. There have been a number of renovations in the last 10 years including the recent renovation of the 3rd floor as well as heating and cooling upgrades.
Cody Benzel, (Pioneer class of ’09, hired 2015) was recently promoted to Head Custodian at Arcade. His staff consists of Assistant Head Custodian Mike Walden (hired 2016), and second shift custodian Scott Ward (’80, hired 2015), who serves as the second shift building supervisor.
The cleaners at the Arcade Elementary are supervised by Brandi Prichard. Brandi was hired by Pioneer in 2021 to oversee the district cleaning operations. The cleaners at Arcade are Donna Clinch (’74, hired 2012), Rick Close (’11, hired 2018), and 2021 hires Pete Calanan and Jon O’Brien.
Cody oversees the daily operation of the Arcade Elementary maintenance department. Cody and the other building custodians are skilled in multiple trades and are responsible for maintaining the physical heating and cooling plant as well as electrical, plumbing, heating/ventilation/air conditioning (HVAC), carpentry, masonry, painting, and other building system repairs and maintenance. In addition, Cody and his staff help to coordinate and manage all the activities Arcade Elementary hosts throughout the school year including athletic practices, music department plays and concerts, STEM night and Ag Day. Arcade also hosts the Chamber of Commerce Christmas Magic event, Arcade Winterfest and many other community events.
Arcade Elementary has a modern heat pump loop with a physical heating and cooling plant that consists of a 1.5 million BTU high efficiency condensing gas boiler and two 750,000 BTU electric boilers to add heat to the heat pump loop. There are two cooling towers used to shed heat from the loop during the warmer months. Four circulating pumps are used to circulate the glycol through the loop to the individual heat pump units as well as the roof top units. Arcade also has a snowmelt system installed in the sidewalks at the bus lane.
The HVAC system is comprised of 91 heat pump units that provide heating and cooling to the classrooms, and 10 rooftop units that supply fresh air to standard classroom spaces. The classroom roof top units are a dedicated system used to provide 100 percent outside (fresh) ventilation air which is filtered and delivered to the classrooms. The larger spaces, such as the gymnasium and auditorium have stand-alone rooftop units—four in total—that provide 100 percent fresh air as well as heating and cooling to the space. The air from the building is exhausted out and not circulated back through the roof top units. Exhaust fans and relief openings are utilized throughout the building to discharge the ventilation air and prevent over pressurization of the space.
The Arcade custodians are also responsible for lawn care and landscaping at the Arcade building along with snow removal from the parking lots and sidewalks.
The Arcade maintenance team works tirelessly and takes a lot of pride to ensure that Arcade Elementary provides a clean, comfortable and well-maintained environment for students learn and grow.