(Spirit Lake)– Discussions around possible facility improvements at the Spirit Lake schools continue to evolve. The school board will meet once again this Wednesday, August 19th. Superintendent Dr. David Smith tells KUOO news he’s going to recommend at that meeting a proposed field house or athletic bubble, be deleted. That component had a preliminary estimated cost of $13 million…
“I think we’re probably somewhat all over the board on what that should look like. I think what I think people would agree to is something that’s a larger facility that simply would not fit within our budget of what we have to work with this year, so my recommendation to the board is going to be to take that off completely and focus on the elementary, middle school, high school and some outside areas that need to be addressed.”
Dr. Smith says he’s going to recommend projects, including some new construction at the elementary and high school, go forward…
“For example in the elementary we would be having to put in somewhere between the 5 to 7 million dollar mark, probably closer to the 7 million dollar mark, just to address some of the issues that I talked about with the HVAC and electrical, the windows, and the lighting, etcetera, and the roof. We’ve put in about $100,000 a year in the roof already. So lots of basic stuff. That would be around $15 million that we’d have to put in no matter what. So the discussion is about re-doing major parts, about half of the elementary.”
He says it’s a similar scenario at the high school, with a recommendation to integrate the industrial technology program into the main facility, in addition to other renovations and replacement of the Schuchert Circle. Some renovations would also be included at the middle school, along with a second bus barn to house additional vehicles; replacement of turf on the football field, and new lighting at the baseball and softball fields. Based on preliminary estimates presented to the board a week ago, it would put the total cost at roughly $63 million.
Dr. Smith says there’s one misconception out there he wants to address when it comes to the proposed plans…
“I think people think this is the final approval and this far from a final approval. I think this is the board’s, the board is taking input from the community on whether they should move this on to the ballot in November so the community can make the decision on whether this is needed or not.”
He says that’s largely what Wednesday’s meeting will focus on…
“Whether you’re for it, against it, or need more information, show up to that meeting and feel free to voice your opinion at 5:30. It’s going to be in the Sami Center. Prior to that meeting at 3:30 that day we’re going to have tours available for any community member that want to come in and see the facilities themselves, because I think if you actually see it, then you’ll understand what we’re talking about. You can just show up to any one of the offices. If you want to show up to the elementary office or you want to show up at the high school office there will be someone there to give you a tour, they’ll walk you through, or you can see them all if you’d like. At 4:30 in the Sami Center on Wednesday we’re going to have a question/answer. We’ll give any kind of visuals people want to see and show them whatever we can on screen in the Sami Center just to get as much information out there as possible.”
Dr. Smith says the school board could decide at Wednesday’s meeting whether to proceed with either all or some of the work. If so they, would then need to request a petition with at least 150 signatures on it to bring a bond referendum to the voters this coming November.
