Fred Beeman, the late Island City mayor, must be smiling somewhere.

The popularity of the Island City park named in his honor is growing due to ongoing construction work at Island City Elementary School.

The building project is temporarily reducing playground space at the school, meaning that Fred Beeman Community Park, which is adjacent to the school playground, is being used by children during recess. The park is expanding the supervised playground area already available to students.

“We are very fortunate to have the park,” said Island City Elementary Principal John Tolan.

The park will likely serve as a playground area for the remainder of the school year, while construction of seven new classrooms and a kitchen are completed at the school.

Foundation work for the kitchen provided some added excitement during a lunch period the first week of school. The gym, which also serves as the school’s cafeteria, momentarily rattled when a soil compactor was operated by a crew outside the gym while children were eating lunch.

“The students’ food shook a little,” Tolan said.

Soil compaction and excavation work are a few of the things Island City students and staff are getting a chance to observe as the construction progresses. The work is not proving to be a disruption for students, said Island City fifth-grade teacher Darren Hendrickson.

“It is business as usual for them,” Hendrickson said.

He said the work is adding a dimension his students are embracing.

“They all like seeing the big equipment,” Hendrickson said.

He added that the work has his students buzzing.

“They are excited to see what is new,” he said. “They are just curious.”

The vibrations from the soil compactor two weeks ago were an aberration. Much of the time, no indication of the construction work can be heard or felt in Island City Elementary during the school day.

“They are working quickly but quietly,” Hendrickson said.

Tolan said that CM Company of Boise, Idaho, the general contractor for the construction project, is excellent to work with, and is accommodating in taking steps to keep from disrupting school.

The biggest impact the construction work is having on Island City’s students is on their playground. One portion of the old playground area now fenced off includes the school’s asphalt basketball court. Students are taking the loss of the basketball court in stride by finding alternative activities, said second-grade teacher Lena Wheeling.

“They are playing more tag and duck, duck, goose,” Wheeling said.

The game may be helping children get to know each other better.

“(The loss of the basketball court) has forced them to do more bonding activities,” Wheeling said.

Island City Elementary’s outdoor basketball court is temporarily off limits for students, but, Tolan said, its indoor hoop facility is better than ever because the school’s gym floor was replaced over the summer.

“It is a big improvement,” Tolan said.

The gym floor and all construction work at Island City is being funded by the $31.85 million bond school district voters approved in 2014.

In addition to the new gym floor, a computer lab room was built inside the elementary school this summer. The room was created in an area where three teaching specialists had been based. The process of constructing the new room meant that many books, pieces of furniture and other items had to be temporarily moved into other classrooms. The computer lab room was finished in late August, so everything had to be quickly moved back to its original place a few days before school started. Island City teachers and staff did this with the assistance of teachers and administrators throughout the school district.

Dena Tams, Island City’s secretary, said the work done by staff from other schools was enormously appreciated.

“We would not have been ready (for the start of school) if it were not for their help,” Tams said.

Contact Dick Mason at 541-786-5386 or dmason@lagrandeobserver.com. Follow Dick on Twitter @lgoMason.