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Monday evening the Brookville Area School Board gave the administration approval to talk to architectural firms about the renovation project with one stipulation, the project would cost no more than $15 million.
Superintendent Sandy Craft provided the board with a list of alterations to the building that would involve allocating existing space and minimizing new construction.
Craft said the open classroom concept would be eliminated in the renovation. Hickory Grove had been constructed with open classrooms and exterior corridors. "The teachers would like to have a window in their classrooms," said Craft. She said the teachers would also like to retain the sinks currently in the classrooms.
The two cafeterias would be merged into a single facility. A new multi-purpose room would do double duty as a meeting room for the school board. The school board currently meets in the high school cafeteria.
The new construction would be minimal. Craft said the school office would be re-located to the main entrance and the district administration would be added to the front of the building.
"We have out-grown our house," said Craft. Currently the district administration is in the former care takers cottage on Barnett Street.
The current large group instruction room, which has limited handicapped accessibility, will also be moved.
Craft said one of the problems with the school has been with the swimming pool area which drives the heating for the entire school. "The heating system does not meet the current code," said Craft.
Under the proposal parking would be expanded and a student drop-off point added in the front of the school.
Craft said the playground would be moved to accommodate the parking but, as much of the playground equipment is out-dated, the playground could be improved at the same time.
Craft said there would also be improvements to the library and gym but those would not be major. The hall carpeting would be replaced by tile.
The superintendent said the architects would also be asked to explore the possibility of geo-thermal heating for the school.
By soliciting proposals, the district hopes the competition between the firms will help control costs.
Jason Barnett, the district's business manager, said this was a "sound conceptual process" that has already provided benefits. The initial estimated cost for the project was $18 million in the feasibility study but the authors of the study have already indicated the costs could be reduced.
"Maybe this project can't be done for $15 million. Maybe we will have to do some trade-offs as the project proceeds," said Barnett. "I think we can tighten down these numbers.'
Barnett also outlined several funding methods that included paying $7.5 million out of existing district funds. Barnett said the state reimbursement was not proportional to the size of the project but based on a funding formula that relied, in part, on student enrollment.
He said the administration had explored new construction but found estimates for a new kindergarten through sixth grade school were about $40 million. "We felt renovation would be the reasonable," said Barnett. "It was our intention to utilize as much space as possible to keep costs down."
Barnett also reminded the board that under Act 1, the district's ability to raise real estate millage without a ballot referendum was limited.
Board member Bill Hale asked if the roof work required at Pine Creek Elementary and the high school could be rolled into the project.
Barnett said the state's PlanCon process was based on the individual building project and could not encompass more than one building.
