District breaks ground on new elementary building

State Senator Bill Montford was the guest of honor July 6 when school district officials broke ground on a new multipurpose building that will serve as gym space for the elementary students.

The 11,000-square-foot building will feature a gymnasium, but without the court lines painted on the floor, surrounded by classroom spaces, storage rooms, bathrooms and a coach’s office. The building, to be located behind the kindergarten, will have a similar exterior look to the existing school buildings.

The school board moved forward July 7 on deciding which steps to take to enhance the $1.74 million base bid.

Aaron Boyette, an executive with the PSBI general contractor handling the project, and David Vincent, with JRA Architects, outlined a series of alternatives that the school board could choose from, from rubber flooring and court striping to steel fencing and gates.

The largest additional expense will be $87,000 for rubber flooring and striping, that Vincent said could be used for basketball and volleyball, would last 20 years and is completely recyclable.

The board also approved spending a little more than $57,000 for a security system complete with closed security TV cameras, as well as about $42,000 for the cost of installing basketball goals and backboards, and volleyball equipment.

The board also intends to spend close to $17,000 for bleachers, $15,000 for wiring the building for a speaker systems, $12,750 for a heating and air conditioning system for the communication room, $9,000 for am lighting control module, $9,000 for a sidewalk addition, nearly $11,000 for new steel fencing and gates, and $25,000 for programmable lockets and door hardware.

The board decided against spending $13,000 for a curtain divider, $12,000 for a sound system, $6,000 for large amplifier and eight additional speakers, $1,300 for wireless microphones and about $11,500 for crash pads and acoustical panels.

The entire cost of the new building, which is nearing $2 million, will be paid for out of capital improvement funds, and not operating revenue. The district earlier had signaled an interest in possibly delaying the construction, and using the savings to offset the large shortfall that is expected in general operating revenues, but state law prohibits using capital outlay funds for anything other than so-called “bricks and mortar” uses.