At the School District 166 School Board special meeting on Tuesday, July 10, school board members reviewed floor plans and architectural sketches of what the school campus would look like if the community center and aquatics center were attached to the west end of the school building. Architect Dan Miller of JLG Architects presented two drawings. They were very similar except for roof design. There was considerable discussion of the merits of different roofing materials. At public meetings later in the week, Miller planned to present more detailed design plans.
The School District 166 School Board had two topics on its agenda for the special meeting on Tuesday, July 10. The first was to look at preliminary drawings and to talk to Architect Dan Miller about what a community center and aquatics facility connected to the west end of the Grand Marais campus would look like. The second was to decide who would negotiate with the county and the YMCA on the agreements that need to be settled before the project moves ahead.
During the meeting, school board members and Superintendent Beth Schwarz considered sketches on paper and digital floor layouts on a large projection screen simultaneously reviewed by Miller at his JLG Architects office in Alexandria. There were a couple of breaks as the school board put Miller on hold and left the Jane Mianowski Conference Room to look at the actual spaces being discussed.
The conversation covered the floor plan of the proposed new area, with a lobby entrance that allows visitors to see the pool area; a child watch area just off the lobby with moveable partitions to allow for different sized spaces; an enlarged community education gym that would be large enough for indoor tennis and a walking track; four family restroom/changing rooms in addition to a larger locker/changing room; and office space for community center staff as well as Extension Service and AEOA and more. Sketches of the exterior and how it would complement the existing building were discussed and there was some debate over the best type of roof for the new facility.
Architect Miller noted that decisions such as the roof (standing seam versus rubber membrane) and gym flooring (wood versus multipurpose surface) were details that needed to be worked out when the bid packets are put together, with variables depending on costs. For the gym floor decision, he said there are companies that have showrooms set up where you can actually run around and bounce a basketball, to see how it works.
Miller asked the board if it had any areas of particular concern. He noted that concerns had been raised regarding the hall on the west end of the building, between the community ed gym and the school. Miller shared a plan that had two sets of doors by that hallway, so it could be locked and used only by the school during school hours and unlocked for use by the community center outside school hours. A set of emergency doors would allow access from the school into the community center area, but would restrict access into the school.
Superintendent Schwarz said there are pros and cons regarding use of the hallway. She said closing it would reduce vandalism and bullying that sometimes takes place in the unsupervised area (there are no classrooms off the hallway). However, it could make circulation of students more difficult. Board Member Leonard Sobanja argued that it was important for the flow of student traffic. He said the lower hall, which is older, is narrow and gets quite congested. Schwarz said the school may find that it does not need that hall, but she said she would like to have the flexibility to use it if needed.
Industrial Arts an issue
Sobanja asked what plans had been developed regarding the expansion of the Industrial arts area. Miller said that idea had not been fully developed but gave a “very rough” cost estimate of $180 per square foot for a 2,000-square foot space or approximately $360,000. “But that conversation needs to take place between the steering committee and the county,” said Miller.
Steering Committee Chair Paul Sporn was in the audience and he spoke up: “The steering committee has decided that Industrial Arts is not part of the community center project. A couple of us came up with the idea of working on the industrial arts area, but this is really a school issue.”
Sobanja cursed and expressed his frustration at what he said was another delay to improvements to the industrial arts program.
School Board Chair Mary Sanders asked Sobanja to be respectful and he retorted, “I’ll be respectful when the community gets what it asks for. This community said, in the school referendum, that it wanted the industrial arts program back. Now I’m being told we have to wait again?”
School Board Member Terry Collins quietly interjected, “What are the savings to the school district if we do this construction concurrently while the contractor is on-site?”
Sobanja said, “Savings would be significant! Their equipment, their people, the builder would be there.”
Board Member Jeanne Anderson said the Industrial Arts program needs to be reviewed, to determine what its needs are. Superintendent Schwarz said Industrial Arts Instructor Sam West has been asked to put together his curriculum and programming needs. Anderson said, “We need to know—how big does it need to be? What do we need?”
Superintendent Schwarz said, “A big piece of moving industrial arts forward is finding out what the county is going to give us for this portion of the building. We have to give the county some kind of number to get to the next step.”
Sobanja said if the county takes ownership of the west end of the school complex, “They are getting more than we’re getting.”
“It’s an important decision,” said Collins. “If these are genuinely separate projects [community center and industrial arts expansion], then they will have to be bid separately. There could be a loss of savings by not having a joint project. But what are the bid requirements—can we just tack on the industrial arts expansion? Legally, I’m not sure we can do this.”
Sobanja argued—heatedly— that could be done. Schwarz said this is why the school board was tasked with appointing someone from the board to negotiate with the county. She said the negotiators needed to find out if the county can use 1 percent funding and add the industrial arts expansion to the community center project or could the county pay the school a lump sum— enough for the industrial arts expansion? “We need to find out how the county commissioners want to do this and we need to negotiate for the best interest of the school district,” said Schwarz.
Collins said the negotiation team should have one person who voted for attaching the community center to the school and one person who voted against. The board ultimately appointed Jeanne Anderson (for) and Leonard Sobanja (against), along with Superintendent Schwarz.
The board also directed Schwarz to have information on the industrial arts program for its July 19 meeting.
At press time, several other meetings regarding the community center proposal were being held. A joint school board and county meeting was held Thursday, July 12 from 2 to 5 p.m. and that evening, from 6 – 7 p.m. was a public input meeting.
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