Arnold Public Schools recently revealed initial blueprints for a potential school construction project. Although not a final plan, they will serve as a starting point for estimates and selecting a construction manager.
Superintendent Joel Morgan said that the idea centers around ‘moving on’ from the 1925 building and doing construction to the north to replace high school rooms. The conversation about a project coming up started nearly a decade ago.
“I think it goes back to even 2016/2017 when we started having some facility audits done. You start to see some common themes of inadequate infrastructure when it comes to electrical, older HVAC as far as with our boiler system and not having any kind of central air or a consistent fresh air system, or single pane windows. Just a lot of things just strictly on the energy side have shown a lot of deficiencies,” said Morgan.
As is the case with many school construction projects, the main consideration school officials have to consider is what the life span is of a section of building that turns a century old this year.
The project plan calls for 18,834 square feet of demolition, 1,363 square feet of renovation, and 59,754 square feet of new addition. Features would include a new main southeast entrance between the elementary and high school sides of the building, the preschool being included in the main building rather than across the street, and a new wrestling room and gymnasium.
Morgan said the number one priority when holding community engagement meetings and tours is to find a solution that will keep the district moving forward.
“Our identity as Arnold Public Schools is extremely important to us as a District and as a community. We’re always excited to host any events that we possibly can in our area. I mean look at the track meets we host and anything we can host from a conference standpoint, that will continue to remain important to us,” Morgan explained.
In a statement given to school families, it was said that after a construction manager is selected community engagement meetings would be held no later than the regular May school board meeting. Building tours will take place in March and April.
Once estimates and a financing plan are determined, the school plans to clearly outline financial impact to both residential and agriculture property taxes.
