Williamsburg Ind. board signs off on $5.3 million school renovation project: new HVAC system, roofing, lighting; work will begin this summer
Times Tribune, Corbin, March 29, 2017
School board approves contract to move forward with renovations
By Timothy Wyatt
A contract was approved Tuesday evening by the Williamsburg Board of Education that will now allow the district to formally move forward with addressing issues with the school’s heating and air conditioning, roofing and lighting.
The board unanimously approved hiring Sherman Carter Barnhart Architects to handle the renovation during a September 2016 meeting, but a contract had yet to be approved. Once again, the board voted unanimously Tuesday to approve the contract with SCBA. With the approval, Kevin Cheek, education facility planner with SCBA, then presented board members with initial schematic designs for the upcoming project.
The renovation will begin this summer, according to Cheek, with the more intricate aspects—such as HVAC work—being performed in phases. The first phase will take place in the back portion of the school on the second floor before moving to the front portion of the second floor during the second phase. Work on the HVAC system will continue through the school year with phase three anticipated to begin sometime in August, which will focus on the back end of the lower level. The front end of the lower level will be addressed next and the right side of the building, including the auditorium and band rooms, will be done last.
Roofing and lighting work will also begin in the summer and will be done concurrently with HVAC.
There still are no official figures regarding costs since each individual part of the renovation will need to be bid on by companies interested in working on the project. However, during the board’s February meeting, Superintendent Amon Couch said that initial estimates for the renovation put the total cost at $5.31 million.
Board member Roger Faulkner made a motion to approve the schematics for the project, with board member Kim Williams seconding. The board vote was unanimous.
In other board of education business:
- The district’s 2017-2018 school calendar was unanimously approved. According to Couch, the first day for students would be Aug. 21, 2017, and the last day being May 18, 2018. The calendar has two banked days built into it as opposed to the five the school normally accounts for. Couch also said that the district will reapply to the Kentucky Department of Education to continue implementing non-traditional school days.
Posted: Wednesday, March 29, 2017