Commissioners study new school in Centertown: School board list has new school as No. 2 priority
The idea of building a multi-sport fieldhouse at the high school appears to be all but dead as renovations to Nunley Stadium and the middle school auditorium took top priority on a list of school improvement requests submitted by the Warren County Board of Education Monday night.
“The stadium and the auditorium are our two most pressing issues and ones we’ve already spent money on. As such, they went to the top of the list,” said Director of Schools Dr. Jerry Hale.
In all, the school board proposed four school improvement packages ranging in price from $900,000 to over $14 million.
The school board was asked to compile such a prioritized list last week by the Warren County Commission which wanted to see a list of all school improvement requests before voting on a $1.2 million capital outlay note to fund the renovations to Nunley Stadium, the middle school auditorium, and a multi-sport fieldhouse.
It took several hours Monday night before the school board came to a consensus on the list. The Nunley Stadium and middle school auditorium projects took top priority and make up Package 1, with a price tag of $900,000.
Package 2 consists of Package 1 plus the construction of a new school at Centertown. Total cost for this package is estimated at $7.4 million.
Hale said building a new school in Centertown, which currently has the oldest school building in the county, is included in the school system’s long-range facility plans, but was brought to the forefront after interest in the project was mentioned by a couple of Centertown commissioners.
Included in Package 3 is everything in the first two packages in addition to a number of safety items and other requests including a new roof for Irving College Elementary, an additional chiller at the high school, fire doors and storm drains at several schools and the renovation of Bobby Ray Elementary’s Building C. Total cost for this package is estimated at $9.7 million.
Package 4 includes the above items as well as all remaining requests school system officials could determine. These include, among many others, additional school roofs and HVAC systems, several school renovations and additions and the aforementioned multi-sport fieldhouse. The estimated price for Package 4 is $14.175 million.
Board member Larry Judkins noted he is not overly optimistic about the chances of approval for Packages 3 and 4, but said the board put them together nonetheless.
“This is what the commission wanted and we’ve just done what they asked,” he said.
Board members will most likely present the proposed packages to the Warren County Commission during its next meeting Sept. 16. Additionally, the school board invited commissioners to visit Centertown Elementary next Thursday to see the need for a new school there first-hand.
School system improvements
The following school improvement request packages were prioritized by the school board Monday night at the request of the Warren County Commission:
Package 1 Estimated price: $900,000
Complete renovations of Nunley Stadium (including new press box and new visitor’s side restrooms and concessions building) and the middle school auditorium
Package 2 Estimated price: $7.4 million
Package 1 plus a new school at Centertown
Package 3 Estimated price: $9.7 million
Packages 1 and 2 plus renovation of Bobby Ray Elementary’s Building C, a new roof at Irving College,
additional chiller at the high school, updated electrical system at Bobby Ray, domestic water supply replacement and adding hot water to the main WCMS building, library floor replacement at Morrison, fire doors at WCMS, Bobby Ray, Dibrell, Eastside, Irving College, Morrison and the high school, and storm drain work at West, WCMS, Eastside, Dibrell, Irving College, Morrison, Hickory Creek and the Adult Learning Center.
Package 4 Estimated price: $14.1 million
Packages 1, 2 and 3 plus construction of a multi-sport fieldhouse and girls softball field lights at the high school, new roofs at six schools, HVAC upgrades and installations at 12 schools and system properties, replacement of Warren Academy, renovations and additions at seven schools, electrical system upgrades at six schools, plumbing system upgrades at four schools, floor and tile replacement at two schools, paving at seven schools and system properties, new stadium at the high school and renovation of Bobby Ray stadium.