Grayson County schools will be receiving more than $2 million worth of upgrades over the summer, including the previously proposed plumbing renovations along with some new additions to the plan.
The need for significant plumbing work at H. W. Wilkey Elementary and Grayson County High School has been discussed by the School Board at length in the past months, and bids were opened on Thursday for each of those projects.
The lowest bidding contractors were recommended for each of the projects by both the architects and Superintendent Barry Anderson. BCD Inc., of Bardstown, will conduct the renovations at Wilkey for a cost of $498,300, while Coleman Contracting, out of Morgantown, will handle the high school project for an estimated cost of $1,097,450.
The work will begin immediately after the 2012-13 school year ends, according to representatives of the designing architectural firm Clotfelter/Samokar. Wilkey’s repairs as well as the first phase of work on the high school are expected to be completed by early August, Anderson said, and the second phase of high school renovations will continue on into September.
Anderson recommended to the board that two other projects also be scheduled for the upcoming summer. He said that kitchen renovations at the high school will not only extend the life of the building, but can offset some of the expense of the currently planned renovations at the building, thus saving money by going ahead with the project now.
“We’ve got to keep that building in shape so we can use it a substantial amount of time,” Anderson said.
The estimated cost of the project - without taking into consideration the amount it will shave off of the other renovation work - is $214,000.
The second project Anderson recommended is the renovation of the girls’ PE and sports locker rooms at the high school. He called the facilities “substandard” and said that because of this, “they are not getting used.”
The recommended $132,000 worth of renovation work to the locker rooms would increase the efficiency of the showering facilities and add toilets, Anderson said.
Board members turned to Director of Finance, Kerry White, who said that the Board of Education could indeed handle the cost of the additional renovations at this time. School Board Chairperson Carolyn Thomason added that, “in a sense, you can’t afford not to.”
Anderson said that the additional projects will not extend the amount of time needed to complete the renovations.
The recommended renovations were approved by the two board members present, Charlotte Gower and Mona Fulkerson.
Other improvements that were approved by the board on Thursday included roof repairs at Lawler Elementary School and paving work on the high school’s parking lot.
Final plans for the Board of Education’s new Central Office building were also reviewed by the group and final approval was given on the design. A time frame for construction of the new office building has not yet been determined.
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