Renovations won't improve older spaces

HILLSVILLE — Most of the funds for the Phase III schools construction project will go toward adding new spaces to Carroll Intermediate and High schools.
Not much will be left over to improve the older spaces.
Carroll School Board members seemed worried during a presentation at their Aug. 10 meeting that some important renovation work would be left out of the $26.7 million project.

Christopher Brooke

Carroll citizens look at the Phase III school renovation plan drawing, set up at the county's farmers' market.

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Frank Williams of Pinnacle Architects gave a report on the status of Phase III planning at that meeting, telling the school board that the bid documents are almost complete.
Most of the work will center around adding the new ninth grade wing, a new entrance/lobby/media center to the front and an auxiliary gym to the back, but there will be enough money to rehab major systems in the building, like the heating and air conditioning.
Space will also be added to the intermediate school, which will house grades sixth through eighth in the future.
Williams went through the design features of both facilities, starting with the necessity to replace the baseball field that will be taken for the ninth grade wing on the east side of the high school
Student drop-off will be separated from the bus loop, with passenger vehicles letting youths out at a new entrance in the ninth grade wing, the architect said. A new building will house the automotive and agriculture shops, as a dining room expansion will go in those spaces.
The new lobby will add important security to the facility, as people will no longer will be able to walk in without seeing school personnel, Williams said. On the second floor, a new media center is planned.
In the old library, planners have placed two science labs there, he continued. The older sections will also benefit from new lighting and the new mechanical systems.
Recalling that speakers at a public hearing on the Phase III ideas wanted work done on the band room, School Board Member Reggie Gardner asked if the plans included any work there.
The architects have not looked into modifying the band room due to limited funds, Williams answered.
A major concern in the band area has been storage for instruments, schools Superintendent Greg Smith recalled. The new additions will result in freeing up an old weight room.
Planners intend to give that over to the band for storage, he said.
Continuing on, Williams said the ninth grade wing will have four science labs.
"What are we doing to the other classrooms and labs and the rest of the technology department?" asked School Board Member Phillip Berrier.
There's not going to be a lot of changes of the current classroom designations, Williams said.
The computer labs are in good shape, Smith added.
"We're going to leave a lot of this old the same..." Berrier said.
The improvements to the HVAC system is a tremendous expense, Smith said.
But academics and classrooms are important, too, Berrier said.
"I can't believe that we're going to leave those biology labs and chemistry labs like they were," said School Board Member Harold Golding.
Plans that called for extensive renovations to the existing schools also carried with them much more expense, Williams noted. Planners had to prioritize the $26.7 million budget for additional space for classrooms, security, media center, auxiliary gym, cafeteria expansion and more. That's a lot of work for the budget.
To School Board Member Franklin Jett, to not overhaul the labs is embarrassing.
What about plumbing? School Board Chairman Robert Utz asked.
Architects have an idea to add new bathrooms to add capacity in the high school, Williams noted. Adding new plumbing avoids having to tear up walls and floors to replace pipes.

If there's a problematic area the architects can look at it, he said.
"We've been told it's problematic all over the building," Berrier said.
"On life support is what we've been told," Jett agreed.
Most of the problems are associated with the water circulation through the HVAC system, not the plumbing, Smith said.
The school board will have to decide what to tackle in these construction projects, Williams noted.  Maybe the school board will cut out the expanded restrooms in the field house, but then facilities for public at football games will be lacking.
The intermediate school plans call for a regulation baseball field and softball field.
"Well, we're going to have some nice fields," Berrier said. "Forget about the science labs, but we're going to have some nice fields."
Intermediate school plans also include a new 2.5 story classroom building, a new lobby and administration area, and student drop off by passenger vehicles behind the building to move that off of Main Street, Williams said.
Architects hope that the construction bids will come in low enough to get everything that educators wanted in their facilities, he said. That's a lot of project for the money.
Gardner made a motion to issue the bid documents for Phase III. The motion was approved unanimously.