Districtwide summer remodeling projects given the go ahead

Spencer school board members approved specifications and called for bids on a handful of summer remodeling projects during a special meeting held Wednesday morning. The four projects include a first floor remodel at the old Spencer Middle School (SMS) building, a Spencer High School (SHS) front entry remodel, a SHS reroofing project, and a parking lot expansion and drainage improvement project at Lincoln Elementary School. All four will be paid for courtesy physical plant and equipment levy (PPEL) and local option sales tax (LOST) funding streams.

Rick Dean and Anna Harmon of Cannon Moss Brygger & Associates of Spencer outlined three of the four construction projects scheduled to occur this summer. As she detailed the old SMS first floor remodel, which is being designed to host Spencer Area Activity Center (SAAC) participants, Harmon noted the senior center main entry will be on the building's west side. Offices will be located on the east side of the first floor, where the principal's office was formally situated. The center's kitchen, which will remain where the school building's kitchen was stationed, will be more a catering kitchen. The SAAC recreation room with pool tables will be on the first floor's south side. Harmon also explained the restrooms, which will be located on the east side of the building's first floor, will be "joint use," meaning they can help offset the auditorium's need for restrooms or may be closed when the SAAC is not open for business. The building's north doors will no longer be considered a main entrance, added Harmon. They will instead serve as a fire egress.

As Superintendent Greg Ebeling reported the old SMS's first floor will eventually be heated by its own geothermal system, he noted electrical service to the building's basement, first floor and auditorium/gymnasium areas will also be separated out. Community Housing Initiatives, Inc. is restoring the former school building's facade and converting its second and third floors into 16 one- and two-bedroom rental units. The nonprofit Friends of the Auditorium group is raising funds to restore the building's historic auditorium and classroom areas. The old SMS basement is also being readied for eventual inhabitants through the demolition of a wall dividing the old gym space and the corner paint room by district staff, Ebeling said. While Iowa Great Lakes youth wrestling has expressed an interest in occupying the basement's ensuing large open space, the cost of an eventual installation of a restroom and heating system in the building's basement area will be covered by whomever occupies it, he added. According to Harmon, one perceived "problem" with the space is there is currently no ability to cool it.

Board members, meanwhile, approved SMS first floor specifications presented by the two Cannon Moss Brygger & Associates representatives and called for bids on the project. While Dean said they're contemplating holding a mandatory June 9 prebid conference, in which contractors will be invited to the building, the board scheduled a bid opening for Tuesday, June 16. The board also set a 7 a.m. public hearing and bid letting on Friday, June 19 for the project, which will be divided into four bid packages.

Next, the upcoming SHS front entryway remodel was outlined by Dean. This project, he explained, will create angle parking from the circle drive to where the four parking spots are currently located in front of the building. The exterior steps near the office will be augmented and a handicap accessible ramp will be built onto the east side of the existing entryway. Specifications also include placing a canopy on the doorway's exterior, as well as positioning a backlit sign near it to further identify it as the building's main entryway.

Inside the high school's northern entry, Dean said heat and steps will be added to the new landing area. While it was mentioned that windows on the north of the lunch room will eventually be replaced, Ebeling said windows to the area's south will need to be replaced at some point in time also.

The board also approved specifications for an estimated $250,000 reroofing project at the high school. The existing sections of roof, which were new in 1982 and 1984, and scheduled for replacement this summer are the north and south portions of the fieldhouse roof and the two sections to the west of the field house, which go over the building's office area, locker rooms and band entry.

Bid openings for the SHS front entryway remodel and reroofing projects were scheduled for 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 25. A public hearing and the awarding of bids is slated to occur during the regular board meeting scheduled on Tuesday, June 30.

Before departing the morning meeting, Dean also informed board members that his company has also sent documents to the state for a remodeling project planned in the SHS Technical Education building's self-contained special education room. Plans are to decrease the office area and remodel the kitchenette space into a shower, restroom and changing area. This work will be accomplished by district staff, Ebeling reported.

Jim Thiesse, a Kruse, Cate and Nelson engineer, outlined the parking lot expansion and drainage improvement project approved by the board at Lincoln Elementary School. According to Thiesse, the entire front parking lot will be removed and doubled. Its asphalt will also become concrete. While the lot expansion, which will include a bus lane, will cut the building's front yard green space by half, Thiesse said, "The idea is this lot will last 30-plus years."

Ebeling said plans associated with this project also include removing planters and the wood screening fence in front of the elementary building, as well as a sizable evergreen and birch tree. Additional landscaping and the placement of benches fall outside of this project's scope, he added.

While Thiesse has calculated a total project budget between $380,000 and $420,000 for the parking lot expansion and drainage improvements, the board set a 7:30 a.m. bid opening on Thursday, June 4, with a hearing and awarding of bids to follow. If questions remain on the awarding of contracts, these projects will be deferred and awarded during the June 19 board meeting.

"We're trying to get as many of these projects done before school starts next year," Ebeling said of all the projects described during Wednesday's meeting. "The first floor of the old middle school, of course, is going to be ongoing; but we hope to have that done by January of next year. The CHI project on the second and third floors of the old middle school is going to be completed by the end of December."

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In Spencer school district personnel-related news ...

A recognition party honoring Spencer teachers Molly Scott, Sheryl Patten, Steve Steele, Sherry Clark and Patricia Quinn, shown pictured from left, was held Wednesday afternoon in the district's central administrative office building. The five retirees have taught in the Spencer school district for a combined 127 year total. Clark served 37 years; Quinn 33 years; Steele 24 years; Patten 18 years; and Scott served 15 years.

In a Spencer school board meeting held Wednesday morning, it was revealed that Spencer High School physical education teacher Bev Ahern has been recruited to fill a high school PE instructor position in the Grundy Center Community School District next school year. Ahern, who began teaching in Spencer during the 1989-90 year, was recognized as the Secondary School Physical Education Teacher of the Year by the Iowa Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance in 2003.

"She's done a nice job with our physical education program," Superintendent Greg Ebeling, who indicated he had not yet seen a resignation tendered by Ahern, said following the meeting. "She's going to be missed. She's somebody who's really done a nice job creating a neat program at the high school."

It was also announced during yesterday's board meeting that Assistant Superintendent Kathy Elliott's last official day she'll be employed by the district will be Friday, June 5. Of the 24 applications received to fill her board-revised curriculum director position next year, Ebeling reported four people were interviewed Monday and at least one other individual has scheduled an interview next week. The superintendent also said he'd continue to work on recruiting to fill the position.

Of the 24 Spencer curriculum director applicants, one is an in-house aspirant and three are from the Prairie Lakes AEA rolls. The position is being advertised as a $75,000 - $80,000 district job.

"Hopefully we're going to be able to offer (the position to) somebody next week," Ebeling said following Wednesday's board meeting.

An end-of-the-year celebration designed to recognize employees, including those leaving the district, is scheduled to begin at 1:30 p.m. on May 27, the final day of classes for the 2008-09 school year.