LC board says ‘no’ to geothermal upgrade
The price was too high, so the renovation of the Central Elementary School gymnasium will not include a heating and air conditioning upgrade at this time.
Options presented at the Lewis Central school board meeting Monday suggested costs could go up by as much as $1 million if a newer system were installed.
“Our options were to stay with the existing system or move to geothermal,” Superintendent Mark Schweer said, and much of the discussion that preceded the vote revolved around considerations like energy efficiency, future technology and the age of the existing system. For instance, three of the existing boilers are considered extremely inefficient, past their prime and may only have a few years left.
However, “I’m not anxious to spend a half-million dollars on a ‘maybe,’” board member Bob Feller told fellow board members.
“I agree,” board member Ron Stazzoni said.
The three options under consideration meant adding anywhere from $150,000 to $923,000 to the construction bill.
The Lewis Central school board voted in March to demolish most of the old elementary school structure, but to keep the gymnasium and an adjoining classroom wing. The gym is connected to the Lewis Central Middle School, which needs gym space, and saving the gym will cost less than building a new one. The classroom wing will be used as a vestibule.
The board had to decide if the existing heating and air system would be sufficient for now, or if it would be wiser to implement a new geothermal system. Gary Bowen of the architectural firm of Bahr Vermeer Haecker stated initial estimates called for tying into the existing system, which would cost $100,000 for the gym and an additional $75,000 for the classroom area.
Board members concurred they could not justify approving any of the options at present. The vote was unanimous to stay with the original HVAC system plan.
Bowen’s previous estimates set the price tag for the Central work at $873,806: $56,000 for demolition, $394,616 for gym renovation, $398,219 for renovation of the adjoining wing and $24,201 to add a ramp that complies with the American With Disabilities Act requirements.
Saving the gym and classroom wing will mean reinforcing the structure, bringing it up to code, adding a new roof and ramps, and installing fire sprinklers, fire and smoke detectors, and heating and air conditioning units.
National Concrete Cutting will start demolition after school is out for the summer.
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Submited at Tuesday, April 19th, 2011 at 6:00 pm on Uncategorized by ethan
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