The superintendent Chris Spencer announced the Coal City Unit 1 school authority on Wednesday that the district from the feedback and the discussions that come from the meetings of the town hall meeting will be spent in 196,679 US dollars for repairing the North Gymnasium an der City Intermediate School .
The students of the Coal City Intermediate School spend this school year and possibly in the next school year at Coal City Elementary after the maintenance in October discovered a growing crack in the North fitness wall. The district will repair the 8,300 square meter space, including the exchange of the half -timbered system and the repair of the north wall.
“We would like to move forward with the removal of the roof and the removal of this wall to keep everything as it is, could be in the best interest of the district,” said Spencer. “I think I still think that it is in our best interest that we bring together a committee and look into the future. As a result, we are already set up what the board has already set up, where we can see what we will do with the intermediate school as soon as we had a new Dresden agreement. “
Board member Jeff Emerson said he was difficult to be selected with the numbers to repair a 100 -year -old building. According to an article by Morris Herald-News, the renovation costs would be between $ 300 and $ 500 per square foot of renovating school, and between $ 450 and $ 650 for the construction of a new school.
Emerson said the district had to accelerate its timeline to build a new school. He understands that the building has history and the fact that people have a fixed income. Emerson still believes that the district must now start planning after a new building.
“The longer you wait, the more it costs to build a new school,” said Emerson. “To bring millions of dollars into a 100 -year building, we pay our architect to say:” Yes, you could fix it “, but that doesn't say that the next problem will not happen.”
According to a press release on Friday, future renovation work or demolition plans remain in the long -term setup plan of the district and will be visited again as soon as a decision is made about the decision of the subsequent station of Dresden generating station and the following property tax agreement.
The board also indicated Spencer to request offers for renovation work at primary school in order to update the electrical and mechanical systems. The board is also interested in temporary modular classrooms and office space.
In the press release, the district said that he had submitted an insurance claim to cover the costs, and he was lodged against the limited coverage of the carrier in order to obtain full repair funding. Repairs are financed by health/life safety reserves and the proceeds from the work bonds acquired in November 2023.