When students left for summer break, they expected to return this fall to a larger cafeteria, a new black box theater and a smoothly-paved parking lot.

Instead, they came back to boarded up lunchroom windows, an unchanged black box theater and the north parking lot in shambles. The original scheduled completion date for construction was around September of this year.

“At one point in time it was hoped that the construction would start at the beginning of the summer,” assistant principal Mike Norris said. “[Now] the entire thing is supposed to be done late March.”

A rise in construction costs since the bond issue was passed in 2013 held up the projects at the beginning of the summer. For example, some supply prices have risen in the past two years, which exceed the original bond amount.

“We were delayed because things came in over budget,” assistant superintendent of business and operations Kyle Hayden said. “We had to figure out what tweaks could we make without missing and sacrificing the plan and what dollars could we use to supplement it.”

The original bond construction budget was $3.9 million. However, the district had to re-prioritize the planned building projects to accommodate price inflation. It added $660,000 from the district’s capital outlay money for additional improvements, Hayden said. Those supplemental funds will be used to cover the difference that the original budget didn’t account for.

“We’ve dipped into that [capital outlay] to help support the bond issue dollars, so those combinations of dollars have kind of helped us complete the projects that we intended on completing,” Hayden said.

Aidan Rothrock
Meetings at the district to redesign engineering and architectural plans further delayed ground-breaking.

Parking lot construction has affected students most. Increased congestion and fewer parking spaces have caused a headache for students who drive to school.

“I liked that the back lot wasn’t so congested, but now it is,” said senior Austin Butell, who has driven to school since freshman year. “I liked how there weren’t that many people that parked where I do.”

Along with the parking lot, the cafeteria and black box expansions will be underway by mid-October once the support steel arrives on-site. Footings for both will be poured in the next couple of weeks, Norris said. The timeline for the main entrance renovation has yet to be finalized.

Students and staff can expect to see construction through the rest of the year.

“What they’re doing is a good idea,” math teacher Cory Kramer said. “I wish it would’ve been done more in the summer and not through the year.”