By Joann Groff   joann@theacorn.com

When ground was broken on the Sycamore Canyon Elementary gymnasium on Jan. 1, 2006, school and district officials were hoping the kids would be playing basketball on its floors by Christmas. Two months after deadline, the structure looks nowhere near completion.

The gym is now expected to be completed in May, according to Jeff Baarstad, assistant superintendent of business services. Principal Pam Chasse said the gym will be the final puzzle piece for Sycamore Canyon.

"Sycamore is a school that has been in construction for the last six years," Chasse said. "It's the newest school and construction has never really stopped. Schools are just a little bit slower and take a little bit longer."

Chasse said she sees work being done on the gym every day.

Jack Wilson, the district's interim director for planning and facilities, said he doesn't have a good answer for why the contractor, Ventura-based GRD Construction, is so far behind on the project.

"The contractor is significantly behind schedule," Wilson said. "We're trying to motivate him as best as we can, but he's not really taken our gentle and fairly firm prodding at this point. We keep beating on him and letting him know there will be financial repercussions, but we can't go out and do the work for him."

Baarstad was a little softer on the construction company.

"There are all kinds of things that can happen," Baarstad said. "We feel they are doing a good job, but it's taken longer than we thought. When they were just about to pour foundation last winter, there were a lot of rains. And there's been other things that have slowed them down."

Wilson and Baarstad both confirmed that the school district is not to blame for the delays.

"It's absolutely the contractor and the work force, those kinds of issues," Wilson said. "There have been no changes on the district's side as far as why it would be slowed down."

The delay is atypical of the work done by GRD, said Wilson.

"In the past, they've been one of our best general contractors," Wilson said. "They have built several projects for us over the years, and we are really surprised that their performance has been so slow on this project. It's very uncharacteristic."

Several calls to the GRD Construction job site at Sycamore Canyon Elementary went unanswered.

Chasse said they'd like to have this year's eighth-grade promotion ceremony in the new gym.