The Bellwood-Antis District Board of Directors Tuesday night gave final approval to send the final piece of the auditorium renovation project to the state Department of Education.
The board voted 8-0 in favor of allowing the administration to submit the self-certification application PDE form 3074(a) for non-reimbursable construction projects for the auditorium project with an estimated cost of $1,361,086 for state Department of Education approval. Board member Linda Cherry was not present for the vote.
“This cost is just an estimate,” said district business manager Ken Swanson. “If you will note, there is an additional $10,000 that wasn’t there when these numbers were presented before. That’s because the architect noted that we need to install an additional 400 amp feed. There are also some additional lighting needs.”
According to Swanson, the bids for the project will go out next week and said the bids should be returned and opened in October.
Architect Rick Witt from L.R. Kimball & Associates Inc. outlined the project at a February meeting of the school board. According to Witt, the plans include adding new doors at the rear of the facility, adding new technology to both the stage and auditorium areas, removal of asbestos from the stage area and new construction and developing layout plans for general lighting and sound.
Board members also discussed the need for a new rigging system to replace the current system, which has been in place since the 1930s. Board members hoped to install a mobile rigging system, but recently learned that was not a viable option and chose one of a stationary variety.
The project costs will not come out of the pockets of the taxpayers. It is being funded through moneys secured from a $2 million, low-interest bond that was floated in 2002. Nearly a quarter of that bond amount has already been spent on property purchase and another $119,000 of that funding is pending for other purchases – leaving a balance of about $1.39 million.
The project does not currently have a time frame, but officials have noted that no events will take place in the auditorium at the middle/high school during the 2003-04 academic year.
In other buildings and ground business at B-A, board members:
• Learned from Ken Swanson that Precision Sports, the organization hired to re-surface the track area and complete other track-related work, has finished the pole vault plot area.
There was a problem with overspray from when Precision Sports coated the track. This included overspray adhering to parts of the bleachers, fencing and some vehicle parked nearby.
Swanson noted that Precision Sports has agreed to correct these problems, including cleaning the cars that were affected with a sort of rubbing compound;
• Learned from Swanson that the green space re-landscaping project, between the campus of the high/middle school and Myers Elementary School will be completed in two more stages. The middle section will be completed this November and the final section is scheduled to be completed after track-and-field season in mid-May.
One section of the field has already been completed.
The school board agreed on the project after safety issues were brought to its attention earlier this year. Years of foot and vehicular traffic caused the field to be littered with deep ruts and small to medium-sized rocks and stone.
