STRATTANVILLE, Pa. — Clarion-Limestone recently took the first steps to renovating the high school gymnasium when the school board, at its Oct. 19 meeting, approved Amos E. Rudolph Architecture of Venus to begin the process of getting proposals for the project.
(Submitted photo)
“Our gym is in dire need of renovations,” Clarion-Limestone superintendent Mike Stimac told EYT Media. “According to (high school principal) Doug Rodgers, C-L’s floor was the worst floor to play on when he was in high school. If you recall, Doug was at Karns City in 1997-98.”
According to Stimac, the biggest need is to replace the gym floor.
“It’s too hard, it has too many dead spots and it only has about one more sanding left before it can no longer be sanded and refinished,” Stimac said. “The floor is priority one, we want to replace it.”
Stimac would also like to see the bleachers replaced.
“Our current bleachers are nearly 40 years old,” the superintendent said. “We’re concerned about their durability. Therefore, we’d like to replace those as well.”
If money permits, C-L would also like to do cosmetic work to improve the overall looks of the gym.
“We would like to paint it, but in new wall pads and potentially look at the lighting,” Stimac said.
The school chose Amos Rudolph as the architect for a couple of reasons.
“He has worked with other schools, Keystone to name one,” Stimac said. “We also chose him because his architectural/engineering fees are much less than other architects. We estimate we could save $30,000 to $50,000 in architectural fees alone by working with him. Most architects charge right around a 7 percent fee of the overall budget for their services. Amos Rudolph had proposed a fixed fee of about $17,600. Keep in mind, that this is just a proposed number. It may change.”
According to Stimac any money saved on the architectural/engineering fees is important because C-L doesn’t have the money for an massive overhaul of the gym.
“We can’t afford a massive overhaul,” Stimac said. “Our budget is right around $525,000.”
The good news for the school district is if that the proposed budget for the project can come out of the capital funds and can be paid for without the district having to borrow money.
“Even more, this will allow us reserve capital monies for unexpected expenditures and other capital improvements,” Stimac said.
The district hopes to put bids out in January with an expected start time near the very beginning of summer.
“Based on what we’d like to do, we should have the gym finished before the start of the (2017-18) school year,” Stimac said. “That’s the plan. Keep in mind, though, we want to see what the bids look like before we commit to anything. We may find that we can get a lot more than what we are expecting with our budget. Or, we may find we need to go back to the drawing board. As a result, the bid process will be vital.”
