CLEARFIELD – The Clearfield Area School District Board of Directors weighed two new options Monday proposing an expansion at the high school to include the seventh and eighth grades while also attaching the administrative offices.
J. Greer Hayden of HHSDR Architects/Engineers, the district’s architect, presented two additional options – seven and eight – for the district-wide feasibility study. Although both were similar in design, their parts could be “mixed and matched” between them, he said.
Under option seven, a seventh- and eighth-grade wing would be constructed onto the rear of the current high school building. A new kitchen and cafeteria area would act as a divider between the seventh and eighth grade level and the ninth through twelfth grade level.
The seventh and eighth grades would be located in the lower level of the current high school building, and the existing cafeteria would be converted into classroom space. The younger students would also have a separate library and gymnasium/locker room areas.
There would be some redesign to the second floor, while family and consumer sciences, health, etc. would be moved from the first level to upstairs. The new addition is only one-story, but its gymnasium would be a two-story structure.
The high school offices would be redesigned and expanded and are to include a secure vestibule. An addition would be constructed by the high school’s natatorium to house the district’s administrative offices and tech services.
In option eight, a seventh- and eighth-grade addition would be constructed in the same location at the rear of the high school building. However, it doesn’t include a new kitchen and cafeteria area and utilizes its current space.
The younger students would have a separate library and gymnasium/locker room areas. Their classrooms would be located on the first floor of the high school, and the existing health and family and consumer science classrooms would be moved upstairs.
A new addition for the district’s administrative offices and tech services would be built at the front the school near the oval. There would be a separate entry, but it would have a corridor connecting it to the main high school building.
The construction of a new maintenance facility was also proposed at the end of the band parking lot behind the stadium. The 8,000-square foot facility would include storage rooms and house building supplies and district vehicles.
The board appeared to favor option eight, which would cost the district $37,062,500, while option seven was similar in price at $37,103,500. Both options have a reimbursable amount of $13,421,760, Hayden said.
He said the new maintenance facility would cost the district $1,216,000. If the maintenance building construction started in November, it could be completed by May 2012.
Although he felt the district was closer to proceeding, board President Dave Glass said it must still determine ways to “shrink” the magnitude of the project. He believed $1.2 million seemed a lot for a maintenance and storage facility.
Rick Bunning, buildings and grounds director, said the district was taking away two of his garages, and he currently doesn’t have all of his maintenance vehicles under roof. Board member Jennifer Wallace suggested perhaps the district investigate a pavilion-like facility instead.
Glass also inquired if two libraries would really be necessary to which Superintendent Dr. Thomas B. Otto explained there were concerns of the junior high students being mixed in with the high school students.
Otto said it’d also been suggested that the current library be expanded to include a section for the junior high students. “We’re trying to have some dividing area between the two grade levels during the day.”
Wallace likened the board’s situation to buying a car, and said it needed the basics. She said if something wasn’t needed, it should be cut out, and with declining student enrollment, there should be efforts to condense library and computer lab areas.
Otto believed the best start at shaving square footage would be with option eight to which Hayden confirmed that shrinking the size of the addition would result in “major cuts,” while it keeps the kitchen and cafeteria in the same area.
Glass then pointed out that the auxiliary gymnasium would be redundant and could be possibly used for other purposes. Morgan believed it may be needed with all the sports going on and the seventh and eighth grade students coming in.
Hayden noted that if the addition of the administrative offices was attached in the natatorium area, it would require a smaller corridor and there wouldn’t be a need for additional parking.
“It’s going to trim some costs,” he said. “You may pick an option and take away from it.”
If initiated this June, Hayden said the high school project likely wouldn’t get under way for another year and would then extend over an 18-month timeframe. He estimated it would be completed at the end of 2013 or early 2014.
