SPS Board Approves Bond Referendum for General Election
Plans to Renovate Bluffs Middle School Adopted...
May 06, 2008
The Scottsbluff Public Schools Board of Education
took action Monday night at their regular meeting to place bond
referendum before voters on the November 4th ballot.
During the meeting, the board approved the
recommendation from the Bluffs Middle School Renovation Task Force
to renovate the middle school, as designed and presented by
Schemmer and Associates architect Bill Cramer at the last committee
meeting on Wednesday, April 30th.
The planned remodel includes rearranging the classroom
layout to fit the middle school concept, updating the electrical
wiring and technology infrastructure, relocating the office to the
original central entrance, adding elevators for easy handicap
accessibility, moving the library from the second floor hallway,
installing air conditioning while updating heating and ventilation
systems, and renovating to Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design (LEED) certification.
“Last year, after the May 15 bond referendum, district
patrons told us they wanted to renovate the middle school instead
of building new and they wanted a less expensive bond
referendum. So the committee decided to commit to renovation
and reduce the bond referendum by almost one-third,”
The task force consisting of board members, middle school staff, and community members met monthly to discuss priorities for the project and the needs of the school. One of the major decisions for the committee was what to do with the gym/auditorium space that required major repair.
“We looked at how many times the middle school auditorium was actually used for evening performances and events,” said Kinsey. “The committee agreed that being used only 8 times a year wasn’t very practical for spending over one million dollars rebuilding the auditorium when we had a first-class 900+ seat auditorium across the street at the high school that can be used for performances.”
Cramer discussed with the committee about the cost to renovate the existing gym/auditorium space compared to tearing down that portion of the building and constructing a new area. In Cramer’s presentation, he demonstrated how a multi-purpose room could replace the auditorium to create a more multi-functional space at the existing entrance on the south central side of the building. The new area could be used as a commons area for students and cafeteria during lunch time. By adding a stage at one end, the room could also be used for small performances and school assemblies. The gym space constructed behind the multi-purpose room would house one competition court complete with seating for 750 fans, or could be used as 2 practice courts.
“The architect told the committee the gym and auditorium addition was built in 1935 and was not as structurally sound as the main part of the school, which is the historic part. Mr. Cramer also told the committee that demolishing this section and building new to fit the needs of the district would be a better use of funds,” stated Kinsey. “While it doesn’t fully address our need for additional gym space, it does provide more quality spectator seating and much better playing surfaces than are currently in place. With this renovation, we would have two competition gyms (one at SHS, and one at BMS) to utilize for better scheduling of games during the winter sport’s season when we only have indoor sports.”
Cramer told the committee that the budget for the renovations would be approximately $14-million. The renovations would be done while the students were still attending classes in the building by closing off sections and only working one floor at one time.
“Ideally we would have ‘swing space’ to house part or all of our middle school students while the work is being done, but we haven’t identified a location in Scottsbluff which would accommodate 200-600 middle school students” said Kinsey. “Mr. Cramer has assured us they have done renovations before with students still in the building, and that the process will be completely safe. It will take longer, however, to complete the renovations because of the restrictions.”
Kinsey went on to say, “I want to thank the members of the task force for their hard work and dedication this past year to come up with a viable solution for improving this 87 year old building. This project will allow the district to get many more years out of a building of which the community is proud and wants to save for future generations.”
CAD drawings of
the renovation from the architect
PowerPoint
presentation from the architect
