By HOLLY GASKILL
Following expressed interest from the community over the last several months, Southern Wells school board members explored potential options for a new auxiliary gym Tuesday afternoon.
Athletic Director Todd Thieme and Superintendent Trent Lehman toured several other area gyms and reviewed the district’s financial possibilities. The two determined the school could issue a roughly $6.1 million bond to complete the project, as well as several needed repairs to the building.
According to Lehman, the district would raise its tax rate by nine cents, equaling a $18.49 increase for every $100,000 in assessed property value for homesteads.
Lehman advised that the district’s tax rate recently decreased due to an overall increase in assessed value within the district. He stated the bond would maintain a relatively consistent rate.
Of the total bond, Lehman estimated roughly $2.5 million was needed for various building needs, including roof repairs. He believed roughly $3.6 million would remain for the auxiliary gym after fees for issuing a bond.
Because of this, Thieme said the school would be somewhat limited in what they could pursue — he estimated the maximum space they could add would not exceed 12,000 square feet.
However, Thieme also believed it would be possible to meet most of the previously mentioned desires, including a basketball court, weight room, batting cages, wrestling room and indoor track. It would potentially be located on either the west side entrance to the Raider Dome or the east side where the buses park.
Thieme also said that some local groups had expressed interest in offering a lower price to help support the district.
“It’s never going to get cheaper to build,” Thieme said.
Thieme emphasized that the additional space would help ease the fight for practice space between teams, allow the school to host more athletic events and serve the general community.
School board members Todd Fiechter, Chad Roush, Delora Schneider and Andrew Pursifull expressed interest but recognized the proposal was a lot to consider.
Roush admitted he struggled with what was a “want” and a “need” with the matter, also asking if it was more important to build a gym or to build the “right” gym. Thieme acknowledged this, saying he knew it had been a long-time desire expressed by community members. He recognized that of the schools he and Lehman had toured, the only regrets administrators mentioned were not making their auxiliary gyms larger.
To this extent, Roush added, “I hate to build this for $3.5 million, and then those same people that are upset we’re doing that come and look and (say), ‘Why the heck did you build this so small?’”
“I would always wish for something bigger too, but my biggest concern is that we (might) miss out on the opportunity to do something because it’s not the ‘best’ thing,” Thieme countered.
The district would have to put the matter up to a public referendum to increase the bond beyond $6.1 million.
Fiechter, however, found the current price point as an asset. “My gut says we won’t have a lot of community pushback at this level. If this was a $12-$15 million project, I think we would.”
That said, Fiechter expressed hesitation with the timing, given that his and Roush’s terms will end this year. Since the topic was brought to the board in November, Fiechter said several teachers had also approached him saying the school needed more classroom space, not a gym. “We’ve got to decide if this our decision or the next person’s decision,” Fiechter said.
The board members resolved to take the matter under advisement and continue the discussion. Their next scheduled meeting is 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 19.
holly@news-banner.com
