Schools complete construction projects, others ramping up

Sep. 28—Eastern Howard School Corporation opened a new field house and revamped pool facility this spring.

The new facility sports three basketball courts, a three-lane track, scoreboard and removable dividers between the courts. The field house connects to the high school via the entrance to the swimming pool. There are also entrances on the north side of the field house.

Eastern is the latest area school to add a new athletic facility to its campus.

The field house aims to alleviate one of the top challenges the school district faces each year: scheduling and space.

More basketball courts and more locker rooms make it easier for coaches and teams, especially youth sports, to schedule practice times. Eastern ran into difficulty accommodating all its athletic teams when seasons would overlap, such as late fall and winter.

It often meant youth teams practiced late at night. Scheduling physical education classes are also expected to be easier.

Stairs lead up to the second story of the field house, which features an overlook with bleachers where spectators can take in the action. Turn those bleachers around and they overlook the observation deck, one of the new features of Eastern's swimming pool.

A long-needed renovation to the pool was included in the project. The pool facility was essentially gutted all the way down to the cement. As Eastern Superintendent Keith Richie put it during a tour in January, only the hole remained.

The pool has all-new tile and a display board. Infrastructure was also improved, including new HVAC components that improve air quality and filter pool chemicals out of the air. Those chemicals can corrode equipment.

It's the first major upgrade to Eastern's pool in half a century.

"We were putting band-aids on it every year," Richie said earlier this year.

The $20 million project highlights a list of school construction projects that have wrapped up in the past year or are in progress.

Unless otherwise stated, the projects listed in this article did not impact local tax rates. Improvements were funded via debt replacement, where a school takes on more debt after old debt is paid off. This practice maintains a stable tax rate.

A combined Peru Junior-High School

Peru Community Schools is in its second year of having students in grades seven through 12 in one building.

Seventh and eighth grade students moved to the high school building at the start of the 2022-23 school year.

Plenty of empty classrooms accommodated two extra grade levels. Smaller class sizes was one reason for the consolidation. The condition of the junior high building was another.

Classrooms were overhauled with all new equipment, with teachers and staff included on the design process, giving their input about what they wanted in their renovated spaces.

The new classrooms have been well-received.

Renovation work was needed to prepare for the influx of new students. The junior high has its own wing and entrance at the high school building.

There is also a new, secure main entrance. Visitors must be buzzed in, and the office is the first point of contact. A state threat assessment identified the need for a more secure entrance.

The consolidation project turned the old high school office into a counseling suite. It includes individual rooms for each of the four counselors, as well as seating areas meant to help calm students.

The project came in under budget. School administration used a $5.3 million bond to afford the renovations. Remaining funds were used for other improvements, including a theater room where students can change.

Tipton schools gets a makeover

The first phase of a $28 million campus-wide improvement project for Tipton Community School Corporation includes a facelift at Tipton Elementary.

There's a new STEM room allows for students to work on coding, robotics and other related skills. The room is big enough to accommodate multiple classes working on different activities.

An old teacher's lounge and custodian space was turned into additional space in the cafeteria. Restrooms were also added.

More space means two grade levels can eat lunch at one time.

The elementary school also has a new and improved library, equipped with a reading nook.

At the high school, science rooms were the focus of phase one. There will be classrooms dedicated to robotics, advanced manufacturing and computer science.

The high school cafeteria was totally rebuilt with more modern equipment.

Phase two includes a new media center, to be built where the current high school office is, a new gym floor and pool deck.

A student-run fan store and technology service area will be housed in the new media center.

Western HVAC gets needed improvement

Western School Corporation spent about $4.37 million to replace the HVAC system at the high school. The project was nearing completion in mid-September.

Unlike many other area school-improvement projects, taxpayers will see a small increase in their taxes.

The debt service tax rate will increase by 4 or 5 cents. For a property with an assessed value of $125,000, this would result in an increase of $23.72 annually, according to figures provided by Western. An assessed value of $200,000 is a $45.95 annual increase.

School administration decided not to wait until enough debt rolled off to make the project tax neutral, due to the aging HVAC infrastructure, which dates to 1968. The equipment was so old that any breakdown ran the risk of not being able to find parts.

The new system at the high school will have a mobile control option, along with ventilators and standalone furnaces. This will give teachers more control over how warm or cool they keep their classrooms, instead of a universal temperature for the building. A different system will heat and cool common areas.

This should result in some energy savings for the school corporation. Those are estimated at $70,000 per year.

Western expects to have funds leftovers from the project. Those are eyed for a new HVAC system at the primary-intermediate building and fixing the high school roof.

New year, new entrance at Tri-Central

A brand-new entrance is what greeted Tri-Central's youngest learners on the first day of school.

The new entrance is more secure, requiring visitors to be buzzed in. All visitors go through a brief background check before entering the school.

The first point of contact is the new elementary office. Renovations moved the office up to the entrance. Previously, after visitors were buzzed in, they had to walk down a short hallway to get to the main office to check in.

Most construction wrapped up at the end of May on the $1.7 million project. Work started last August.

The project was announced in 2021 but didn't start until a year later due to pandemic-related delays. The project was rebid after no bids were received the first time around. Superintendent Dave Driggs said contractors had trouble finding subcontractors, which couldn't find workers.

Included in the entryway project was a complete overhaul of the restrooms that are at the front of the building. Handwashing stations are automatic and outside of the restroom.

In the works

New baseball field at Eastern

Eastern is continuing to develop its off-campus athletic complex on South 850 East as ground broke this summer on a new baseball field.

The all-turf field is expected to be finished by March 2024, in time for baseball season.

The field will be located on the north side of the complex and feature LED stadium lights, two bullpens, a press box, bleachers for upward of 250 people on both sides of the field and sidewalks leading from the parking lot.

The $2.5 million project is financed via a general obligation bond and does not raise taxes.

Eastern plans to move softball and youth baseball to its athletic complex in the coming years. Those phases will begin when more debt rolls off the books and Eastern can take on more.

Northwestern project to start this fall

The first stages of a multi-year, $51 million schoolwide improvement project is expected to begin in November at Northwestern School Corporation.

The project will see improvements to every school building.

A significant portion will take place at Northwestern Middle and High schools where an addition will be built for sixth grade.

Sixth grade students will move from Northwestern and Howard elementary schools into the new addition for the 2025-26 school year. The add-on will allow for more space as sixth grade is at capacity with the current set up at both school buildings.

Other improvements include safe and secure entrances at each school building, adding more windows to the high school cafeteria, renovating one of the main high school hallways to make room for more career and technical classes and improving pick-up and drop-off traffic at both the Northwestern and Howard campuses.

Taylor to upgrade HVAC systems

Aging infrastructure is the focus of a $18.3 million project coming to Taylor Community Schools.

The scope of the project is still being finalized, but most of the work is replacing HVAC units. Much of what will be replaced is antiquated equipment.

School officials hope to put new bleachers in the gym and replace the flooring in the media center, the main thoroughfare between the middle and high school.

Middle school HVAC units and upgrades to the cafetorium are on the list. Cafetorium improvements include both lunch and theater seating and new theatrical lights and sound system.

Remodeling restrooms will take up the bulk of the work at Taylor Elementary School.

Replacement of lift stations, pumps, generators and doors are on the list for the annex building, along with some sidewalk and parking lot repairs.

The annex building is located on the main Taylor campus and houses the school district's art academy, credit recovery program, band program and transportation department.

Work isn't expected to begin until sometime next year, possibly summer.

Spencer Durham can be reached at 765-454-8598, by email at spencer.durham@kokomotribune.com or on Twitter at @Durham_KT.