BOARD STUDIES HIGH SCHOOL DESIGNS

Two designs for a proposed high school were considered by the Cape Girardeau Board of Education Monday night.

The designs are being developed prior to an April 4 election, when voters will be asked to approve a three-year continuation of the $3.41 tax levy approved in 1997. If approved, the district would sell $18 million in bonds to finance construction of an 1,800-student-capacity high school to house grades nine through 12. The school would enable the district to reconfigure grade levels at other buildings.

The bond issue would not require a tax increase.

Representatives from William B. Ittner Inc. of St. Louis presented two conceptual drawings developed by architects and a district design committee during the meeting. The designs were the most viable of about 12 conceptual drawings developed since Ittner was named architects for the project last month.

"What they're looking at trying to do is make a closer relationship with the vocational school," said Dennis Young of Ittner. "Right now we're trying to have everything laid out so we see what will work and what we won't be able to do."

Young said both drawings feature the district's space needs but have not been developed schematically. Ittner was appointed project architect after research by the school board. Because payments had been made to other architects for cost estimates, the company is working under the assumption the bond issue will pass. If the measure fails there will be no charge for the company's services between January and April.

"We're using some things from the Triad High School design, but every school is different so we have made some adjustments to fit Cape's educational space program," he said. "We're really not going to get into the full design until after the election."

The conceptual drawings each feature a two-story instructional wing along with a commons gathering area and cafeteria for students off the main lobby. Classroom sizes would be comparable to those at Central High School, although some areas would be designed differently to reflect current and future technology needs and possible enrollment trends.

A single-story athletics and arts wing also is planned in both drawings. The area would feature an enlarged music department, an industrial arts area, and a practice gym and varsity gym that is somewhat smaller than the tournament gym at Central Field House.

The two designs presented to the school board differed most in the placement of the building's main entrances. The first design was made early in the process and features traditional parking near Silver Springs Road in front of the school.

The latter design places the high school closer to Silver Springs Road and the Career and Technology Center, thus creating more of a joint campus, Young said. Unlike the earlier design, parking would be behind the school and adjacent to athletic fields, a location that could mean more security and better overall use of the site, he said.

It's very important that we have the ability for future expansion," said Young. "Even if you don't build an area, you have to leave the room and plan for it so it fits with your design."

For example, both designs incorporate an auditorium and football stadium, but neither would be ready for use when the building is completed. Instead, the auditorium would be planned for placement adjacent to the music and industrial arts departments, and the football stadium would exist as a practice field initially.

"We're still too early in the design phase to say exactly how much we'll be able to fund," said Superintendent Dr. Dan Steska. "We're focussing on constructing the building and allocating the space for field development and the other areas."

Young said the project design has been challenging because the best location at the site, situated west of Interstate 55 and Kingshighway along a gravel section of Silver Springs, will be occupied by the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center. A detention basin would be necessary to address water drainage concerns at the site, but the biggest challenge has come from the placement of various athletic fields near the school.