District Facility Options: Article One
by Darrel Stufflebeam
January 19, 2012
District Facility Options: Article One
Our Keep Improving District Schools (KIDS) Committee met throughout this past year and discussed several facility needs. The school board has also discussed the various options and we feel it is important to let all patrons have input about what we are considering. To that end, I will be writing a series of articles over the next few months discussing the details of those options.
The primary objective of the KIDS Committee meetings was to look at long-term needs at RCJSHS. Overall, the committee felt that a separate 7-8 building would be the best option although a separate 6-8 building had a lot of support as well. We have a good, long-term vision for the RCJSHS campus that contains several elements.
A color key for the map can be found at the end of this article. Please keep in mind that some items in the map are potential long-term goals and not near-term plans. Also, the map includes several potential options envisioned by the KIDS Committee and our architect.
There does not appear to be a need to implement a large, long-term option for classroom space at RCJSHS yet so, at this point, I will be discussing other potential facility projects. The primary focus for this article will be the renovation of the RCJSHS main gym.
The gym currently holds about 900 people, which is small for a growing school district of our size. The proposed renovation would add about 500 seats to the mezzanine area. Since our strength training center is located on the mezzanine, we would also construct a metal building for that purpose connected to the north side of the gym. We would install new lockers in the locker rooms and new bleachers in the gym. Our current plans call for removing two rows on the home side for team seating.
The KIDS committee looked at various options for a new gym but the costs were prohibitive ($4-$5 million) considering the other facility needs being examined. The total cost for this project would be about $850,000. We have tried to estimate costs a little high.
Over the next several weeks, I will discuss facility project options regarding classroom additions, resurfacing parking lots, adding an upstairs restroom at WES, replacing the WES roof, renovating our football bleachers, replacing carpet at WES and RCJSHS, resurfacing our track, and constructing a baseball/softball complex at RCJSHS.
As always, feel free to contact me anytime with questions or suggestions and thank you for supporting Rock Creek USD 323 and public education.
Map Color Key
Light Yellow: Existing High School
Darker Yellow: HS classroom recycled from existing space.
Light Purple: Existing common HS/JHS spaces
Dark Purple: Potential new common space south of main gym and new strength building north of main gym
Orange: New JHS classroom construction
Blue: New auditorium, stage and lobby.
Light Blue: Future competition gym (top load)
Red Line: Indicates additional land that would need to be acquired
