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The new building
should be up and ready sometime during the spring of 2003, said
members of the S.M. Wilson construction management firm, but Kidd
said he did not plan to move Central School students to the new
Seventh Street building until the beginning of the fall semester.
Delays in
construction have occurred because of the cost-cutting, or "value
engineering," which was necessary to keep construction costs within
the $6 million budget. The original schedule called for the school
to be completed by the end of this year.
[Photo by Bob Frank]
[Construction at Central School]
Rick Spahn of the
Wilson firm said two concrete pours are scheduled for next week and
three for the following week; then stairwells and elevator shafts
will begin going up.
Because of changes in
the building, using pre-engineered instead of stick-built framework,
concrete pourers have been delayed while engineers worked out the
plans, he said.
At their monthly
meeting Wednesday, District 27 board members approved a bid of
$192,596 for food service equipment. Casework and drywall as well as
acoustical ceiling work will be rebid because of changes in the
scope of the work, Spahn said.
Board member Leta
Herrington asked how the district would make up the almost $500,000
the Central School project is still over budget.
Kidd said interest on
money invested and the working cash fund, as well as some
contingency money, will help make up the deficit. About $500,000 has
already been cut from the original building specifications, he said.
One change in the
building’s exterior will be a metal roof instead of shingles.
However, the exterior will still be all brick, as originally
planned.
"The building will
look nice and will be very serviceable, but we are not getting done
as quickly as anticipated," Kidd said.
Architect Dave
Leonatti is now working on preliminary plans for the district’s new
junior high school, Spahn said. When the new Central School is
complete, elementary students will move in and junior high students
will temporarily move into the old Central School building. The
present junior high will be demolished and a new one built on the
site. The last stage in the building program will be taking down the
nearly 100-year-old Central School.
In other business,
Kidd announced that because the district got a state grant for
$40,095 to fund its summer school program, Life Safety Code money
can be used to upgrade some of the other schools in the district.
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He said he was so
pleased with the new gymnasium lighting in Washington-Monroe and
Northwest schools he would like to put similar lighting in Adams and
Jefferson schools.
He also wants to
replace the 50-year-old theater curtains in Northwest and
Washington-Monroe and update the bathrooms in Northwest School
during the coming year.
Kidd reported that
negotiations are still under way with the unions representing
teachers and support staff but are going well. This is the first
year the teachers union and support staff union are bargaining
together.
A tentative budget
for fiscal year 2003 will be posted in the district office, he said,
but because salaries have not yet been determined, that budget will
have to be changed later.
Carol Becker, the new
principal for Jefferson and Northwest schools, attended the meeting
and was introduced to the board. Becker served as a principal for
Prairie Central School District for the past two years and taught in
Stanford in the Olympia district for six years.
Becker had been a
teacher in Lincoln and the Logan County area before 1990, when her
name was Carol McCarthy. She taught at Chester-East Lincoln from
1979 to 1989 and also taught in Mount Pulaski.
The board voted 4-2
to raise the price of tickets to those athletic events that charge
admission: girls and boys basketball, volleyball and wrestling.
Student tickets will be $1 and adult tickets $2. Board president
Bruce Carmitchel and member Marilyn Montgomery voted against the
raise. Carmitchel said he did not want to see prices any higher,
because it might keep students from low-income families from
attending athletic events.
After some
discussion, the board also voted, 4-2, to purchase 74 Dell computer
workstations at $814 each and one server for $49,000 through the
state’s purchasing pool.
"There is no local
vendor who can compete with their prices," Kidd said.
The board also
approved having a Bloomington computer company service the network.
Voting no were Carmitchel and Jim Wilmert.
Kidd also announced that the terms of
three board members, Shelley Allen, Joe Brewer and Leta Herrington,
will expire in 2003 and that petitions will be available in the
district office in October. The petitions must be filed between Jan.
13 and Jan. 21, 2003, for a spot on the ballot in April.
[Joan
Crabb]
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The committee voted Wednesday night to
hire Bobby Remack, a variety band from Springfield, for the
fund-raiser. The band plays swing, polka and other types of dance
music.
The event is scheduled to run from 6 to
11 p.m. in downtown Lincoln. The first hour is for food and the
remainder for dancing in the street. Beer will be sold, and food
suppliers are being sought. Planners say some activities will be
available for children.
Money earned will go toward funding the
full schedule of events and exhibits planned for Aug. 21-31, 2003,
to celebrate the city’s 150th birthday. Mayor Beth Davis chairs the
committee for the sesquicentennial, and at least 24 subcommittee
chairs and co-chairs are each responsible for a specific activity.
Re-enactment and Lincoln College
cluster chair Ron Keller announced that the 33rd Volunteer Regiment
band has agreed to participate in several sesquicentennial events.
The band will march in the parade, set up an encampment and play for
a Civil War ball. The group is also available for a concert, Keller
said.
Activities discussed at Wednesday
night’s meeting include
• Re-enactment of the
christening of Lincoln with local actors in period costumes.
• A parade on Saturday,
Aug. 30. Parade co-chair Roger Matson said that in addition to
floats, bands and celebrities the parade will include horses,
clowns, ethnic groups and antique vehicles.
• A quilt show in the
courthouse rotunda. Quilting classes and bees are in progress at Sew
Many Friends on Kickapoo Street, according to chair Nancy Rollings
Saul. Participants are making quilt squares used as signals on the
Underground Railroad. Some of the quilters hope to enter the juried
show.
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• A dance with music from
the 1950s-60s. Music co-chair Greg Pelc is pricing potential bands.
• A black history exhibit.
Committee member Russell Allen is doing research for the display.
History co-chair Paul Gleason said the surprising achievement of
blacks from Lincoln is documented in the archives.
• A nondenominational
church service on Sunday, Aug. 31. Co-chair Glenn Shelton said the
Lincoln Ministerial Alliance has committed to participating in the
service, and he is seeking clergy from throughout the county as
well.
• Many souvenir items. For
people eager to make a statement, the first chance to purchase
sesquicentennial T-shirts is at the Lincoln Art Fair and Balloon
Fest next month.
• A special postmark
commemorating the event.
The committee is establishing a
speaker’s bureau to inform local organizations about
sesquicentennial plans. Thressia Usherwood, executive director of
Abraham Lincoln Tourism Bureau of Logan County, is the contact
person.
Committee treasurer Paul Short reported
that, thanks to two recent donations of $1,000 each, the committee’s
balance is now about $4,100.
In addition
to money raised at the street dance, the sesquicentennial treasury
will benefit from the offering at Lincoln’s second annual Community
of Thanks service. Jody Duncan, who is organizing this year’s
service, announced the planned contribution Wednesday night. The
Community of Thanks service is planned for Sunday, Nov. 24, at
Lincoln Christian College chapel. Duncan said last year’s choir
consisted of over 100 singers from 14 churches, and she hopes for
even greater participation this year. She suggested that this choir
might also participate in the sesquicentennial church service.
[Lynn
Shearer Spellman]
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