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Cost unknown of elementary projectBy Danielle Strenke A conceptual drawing of the new addition at Jacobson Elementary is close to being finalized, although the biggest question is how much the building will cost. At its regular meeting last Thursday, the Rush City School Board reviewed an updated architectural drawing of what the addition and remodeling may look like. The unknown, Superintendent Tim Eklund said, is how much it would cost based on the current drawing. ìThe question is, whether this is an eight million-dollar building or a nine million-dollar building,î Eklund said. ìWe can only estimate until it is put out for bids,î he said. The newest plan changes the look of the addition. The first concept was to have the addition as a square layout, while on the new drawing, classes are laid out along two wide hallways. Eklund said the other change was adding locker rooms next to the gymnasium. The old round portion of the school will be reconfigured to include larger classrooms and part of the cafeteria. The second, square addition of the current building will include two large multi-purpose rooms, designated for things like art and music. Eklund said he wasnít ready to accept the newest drawing, however. ìWe still have work to do. With half-day kindergarten, does it make sense to bring them all the way through the building to get to the buses?î he said. It is also not known whether the new addition will require its own boiler room, furnace and air conditioning units. ìThere are things here that can be used, but Iím not satisfied,î Eklund said. He also updated the board on work to replace the high school roof. He said there has been no unexpected costs so far, and the project is proceeding well. ìThey are about a week behind on finishing but no one is panicking because they feel there are plenty of catch-up opportunities,î Eklund said. He said the crews have been placing the old ìRather than throwing it away, we can let people in the community take it, and they have been coming to get it,î Eklund said. Principals Vern Koepp and Mark Saari reviewed the staff and student handbooks for Jacobson Elementary and Rush City High School. School board member Gwen Goretsas recommended that all the handbooks include the districtís Web site address. ìIíd really like to see the handbooks posted on the Web site as well,î she said. Both Koepp and Saari felt it was a good idea, and they would look into having them included on the site. The districtís truth-in-taxation public hearing was set for Dec. 3, with a continuation if necessary on Dec. 19. ©ECM Post Review |