Wednesday, September 17, 2003

By Al Lowe, Tri-State Sports & News Service

Baldwin-Whitehall school board member Paul Homer has consistently warned his colleagues about unnecessary spending because, "There's a monster on the horizon and it is going to cost us millions."

The board heard about the "monster" last week as J. Greer Hayden of HHSDR Architects & Engineers made a case for renovating the high school, which is suffering from a leaky roof, small classrooms, narrow stairways and an antiquated heating system.

The projected cost is $56.7 million but that is subject to change after deliberations by the board. Officials said they hope it may be reduced as low as $45 million. Construction is expected to start in the summer of 2005.

"The building served the community well for years but has reached the end of its serviceable life," Hayden said.

Representatives from Hayden's firm, along with the building's principals, maintenance staff and director of services John W. Frombach, inspected the high school recently.

"You don't want to be there when classes are changing," Hayden joked, referring to the crowds of students in the narrow corridors.

His firm also inspected the district's other buildings and generally found them in good condition.

But problems at the high school included a band room, administration offices and guidance offices that are too small, the lack of air conditioning in most of the building, restrooms that do not comply with codes, lockers that are too small and doors and frames that are in poor condition.

It wasn't all bad news, however. The kitchen, cafeteria, library and boiler room "can be saved," Hayden said.

He presented a preliminary proposal that will be tweaked by his staff and board members in coming months. He wants to increase the number of classrooms from 48 to 54, increase their average size from 350,000 to 443,000 square feet and to move Beall Drive to make way for additions to the front of the building.

Input from the public is to be sought at a meeting in April and from groups of staff, students and residents in smaller sessions.

The construction period is expected to last two years. School director Bev Coon asked about plans to keep disruption of student routines to a minimum. "We're not prepared to answer that yet," Hayden said.

The firm wants to complete the schematic design in March 2004 and award construction bids in March 2005.

Hayden also presented another option that involved building a new high school at a cost of $67.5 million, but there was little interest on the board.

Consultant Scott Bossung of Public Financial Management proposed that bond sales pay for the project's cost and said, "There's still a pretty attractive market."

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