Facilities projects progressing across district

Jul. 16—OTTUMWA — With a multitude of facilities projects on its slate this summer, the Ottumwa Community School District plans on having its buildings ready for the start of school next fall.

"I would say we're ahead of schedule," Superintendent Mike McGrory said in an update to the board this week. "In every aspect as far as whether it's flooring, painting, lighting, in our elementary schools we're ahead of schedule."

He credits that to the work of Lindsay Beinhart, director of operations and maintenance, and his staff "for making that a reality," McGrory added.

However, there was one caveat on progress: "One thing we're troubleshooting right now is looking at our furniture timeline," he told the board. "We still are piecing that together because there's been some delays with that. We do have a Plan B, so we feel good about that, but that's still a work in progress."

From there, Dave Harper, director of human resources and operations, gave a building-by-building update.

Ottumwa High School

The flagship building of the district is undergoing several different projects.

"The chairlift is fixed and functional. Now we're just waiting on a permit from the city," Harper said. Additionally, the painting of the lockers is about 30% done, with hallway lighting updates about 50% complete. In the vocational technical area, the lighting is complete, as is the cafeteria lighting.

"One thing I suggest, if you get a chance, check out the weight room," Harper said as he showed the board photos of the room's flooring, lighting and paint progress as well as the lighting in the wrestling room. "Those areas look phenomenal. They'll be great for our students."

Career Campus

The district's newest acquisition is also moving right along, according to district officials. The wall framing and exterior painting are all complete, as is the polishing of the lower floor. The dry wall is also up, Harper said, with polishing of the upper floor set to begin shortly.

"You need to get a chance to go by there. It looks fabulous," he told the board.

Evans Middle School

The basketball structures are complete in the gym, Harper said. "We are waiting on the gym floor and the bleachers with that. We got our design back from JBS for their logo on the baseline, and then the bleachers we're looking at mid-August," he said.

The hallway lighting update is complete, and the classrooms in the sixth-grade wing are about 25% complete, he added.

"We're confident everything will be ready by August," Harper said.

Wilson Elementary

"That's probably the furthest-along elementary that we have right now, so good things there," Harper said of Wilson.

The chimney project is about 90% complete with the roof leaks, flooring and painting all completely finished.

"The paint job has done a wonderful job for those classrooms," he said.

James Elementary

Work here is moving right along with the roof, flooring and lighting all complete. Walls are 50% along, while painting is 80% complete.

"James' carpet, wow, you don't realize how big that area is until the walls are out, but the carpet looks great," Harper said. "The walls, Lindsay came up with a genius little idea of how to make those walls work since the HVAC system is all tied to that open-air '70s type of design, so it's coming along.

Horace Mann Elementary

Not many details were given about the interior progress on Horace Mann. The conversation instead focused on what was going on above.

"The roof is done," Beinhart said. "The tuckpointing and staining on the chimney, we're having a little trouble pinpointing that guy to get here, but he'll make it."

Eisenhower Elementary

Like many of the other elementary schools, lighting and flooring are completely done at the northern-most building.

"It's just so much brighter with that new lighting in there," Harper said. You didn't realize how dark it was until the got the new lights."

Outside the building, work is progressing as well. "New concrete to the north and then the walking trails, Lindsay and his crew have worked really hard to make sure those paths are clear and functional," Harper said.

Pickwick Early Childhood Education Center

"It's coming along right on track to open in the fall," Harper said of the addition to the preschool. The lunchroom has a functioning kitchen in it, with the gym and lunch room being a combined space, Harper said.

The issue of furniture was raised during this part of the presentation. "We're still working with the vendor on the furniture," he said. "Obviously, whenever you have such a large project, there's going to be some hiccups. But we're working those out with the furniture vendor."

He said that while a few pieces of equipment or furniture may still be missing, but key pieces will be in place in a timely manner. "I know like the teachers' desks and a lot of the storage is going to be in before school for sure, so we can make sure those teachers have adequate time to get in and get the classroom set up for the students."

Warehouse building

While it wasn't part of the facilities update, plans for the new structure on the McCarroll site moved forward at Monday's meeting.

The board approved an agreement with Legat Architects to begin the design phase of the project for $75,000.

CFO John Berg said the vote of approval was needed because the amount exceeded the competitive build threshold.

"We'll have them assist us with the design of a building and figuring out what we can get on that McCarroll site and make sure it's in the right spot," he said.

Secure entrances

This piece is a long-term project for all north-side buildings.

"One of the things, I'm sure, the board remember is one of the top priorities our parents and our staff had was making sure we had secure entrances in each building," McGrory said. "We're in the process of working on that."

"We worked with an architect on some designs to make the north elementaries and OHS a little more secure," Harper said.

One piece they were looking at at the elementary level was having a vestibule piece added in where parents can come up to the entrance, drop a bag or other materials off to the building secretary through and open window. "That parent doesn't have to come inside at all. Everything is locked down," he said.

The secure entrance being looked at at OHS would involve making the front steps functional again. "They're looking at having the staircase for the main entrance for the building and how they can reconfigure that so those stairs are functioning ... but also we have the ADA compliance in there, too," Harper said. "They're looking at doing some remodeling in the attendance office so when parents come in up the main steps, they'll turn left to the attendance office and can't get deeper than that unless they're buzzed in.

"That would ensure all of our other buildings, north and south, on the cafeteria are locked down just for safety," he added to the board. "We've got some great designs. The architect gave us some suggestions I will get out to you shortly."

— Features Editor Tracy Goldizen can be reached via email at tgoldizen@ottumwacourier.com or followed on Twitter @CourierTracy.