Cape Girardeau School District projects on or ahead of schedule

Franklin Elementary School principal Dr. Rhonda Dunham has many memories in the building facing Louisiana Street. She was a student there years before she became the school's leader.

"I will be very sad to see it torn down," she said. "It's not only my history, but the community's history."

From the outside, Dunham said, Franklin is very beautiful. But on the inside, she admits, students and teachers have many needs the old building just can't meet.

Work on the new two-story, 50,000-square-foot Franklin is ahead of schedule, according to Neil Glass, the district's director of administrative services. The building is being constructed just west of the current school, which will be torn down after school gets out in May. The $10 million project is the most costly in a long list of construction and improvement projects throughout the Cape Girardeau School District, funded through a $40 million bond issue approved by voters in April 2010.

Ribbon-cuttings to celebrate expansion and improvement projects were recently held at Alma Schrader, Clippard and Jefferson elementaries. Work is underway on a 22-classroom addition and 1,000-seat performing arts center at Central High School and a new 8,300-square-foot library at the junior high.

Glass said good weather this fall has allowed projects in progress to be slightly ahead of or right on schedule.

The overall budget for the projects is also on track, Glass said. As of last week, the amounts bid out for completed and ongoing projects and bids that are scheduled to be awarded Nov. 21 for a new breezeway to connect the main building at the middle school to the gym are about 1 percent under budget at about $31.2 million. Work on the middle school breezeway will begin after Thanksgiving, he said.

Glass said the budget will be re-evaluated after the first of the year to determine if there is funding available for alternate projects. At the high school, the district is adding 22 classrooms instead of the originally planned 16 because bids for the addition came in low enough. The junior high cafeteria and kitchen will also be remodeled and receive upgraded equipment. Other projects the district could take on if there is room in the budget are upgrades to the middle school's boiler system and improved bus lanes and parking at Clippard Elementary School.

However, before determining any alternate projects, the district wants to bid out the demolition of the old Franklin school, he said.

According to the district's 2009 master plan covering programs, facilities and finances that addressed long-terms needs of the district, the classrooms and school buildings have had to change dramatically as modern teaching methods and equipment have come into use and as nutritional requirements have been updated.

Utility, security and maintenance costs also place demands on the district, the plan said. In 2009, a facilities steering committee was formed to assess the district's needs. The committee found a need for increased security throughout the district, additional facilities for preschool, more classroom space, libraries, an auditorium and a high school stadium. The committee also found need for energy-efficient lighting and fixes to many buildings suffering from neglect and age.

Recently completed projects throughout the district include the 5,000-seat Tiger Stadium at the high school, which opened at the start of the school year and hosted the first football game Sept. 2.

Since summer 2009, Alma Schrader Elementary has added three classrooms, restrooms, a new entry, reception area, office, music room, staff restrooms and interior renovations. The work at Clippard Elementary has been two additional preschool classrooms, three kindergarten classrooms, an art room, music room, restrooms, library and computer room, replacement of entrance canopy, renovations and additions in reception area, offices, conference room, first aid area, restrooms, and new interior floor finishes. Jefferson Elementary has a new entry, reception area, office, music room, staff restrooms, interior renovations and a new gym floor finish.

All three buildings received a new roof and a new or upgraded security system, fire alarms and new mechanical system controls and mechanical system upgrades. Alma Schrader and Jefferson also received new interior doors and locks.

Blanchard Elementary is the district's newest elementary facility and so did not require similar upgrades. The school will, however, receive a second set of doors in the entryway for increased security that will be similar to the other schools. Security cameras and other security upgrades have been or will be applied to all the buildings in the district.

Tentative completion dates for ongoing projects and current approximate total costs are:

* Franklin Elementary School, July, $10 million

* Central Junior High library, before the start of 2012-2013 school year, $2.4 million total, $1.3 million from public trust fund

* Central High School performing arts center, December 2012, $6.8 million

* Central High School classroom addition, before the start of 2012-2013 school year, $3.3 million

Bids for the junior high library and high school performing arts center previously came in over budget, although since then, the district and its hired construction management company, McCarthy Bros., made design changes to reduce costs.

'Just isn't enough room'

Back at the old Franklin Elementary School, Dunham and staff are excitedly awaiting the changes that will occur in the school's environment with the gain of about 20,000 square feet and the state-of-the art classrooms, library, cafeteria and other amenities the new school will contain, she said.

"Right now there are things we have to do out in the hallways because there just isn't enough room," she said.

The new school will have enough classrooms for future growth, including fifth-grade and preschool classrooms. Currently, kindergarten through fourth grades attend the school. That won't immediately change when the building is completed, Dunham said, but the potential is there.

Dunham said there are plans to incorporate historical pieces of the old school into the new, such as removing the stone piece bearing the school's name above the entrance of the old school now and placing it in the area of the new school's library and surrounding it with stonework. Dunham will also take paintings and pictures that have hung for years in the old school, as well as antique desks, and find a home for them in the new school, she said.

Although she will miss the old Franklin and knows many others will as well, it's time for the building to go, she said.

"It is sad," she said. "But it just can't keep up, and we need to do what is best for the kids."

Alma Schrader Elementary will hold open house tours of the building's new classroom addition from 1 to 3 p.m. today. According to a release from the district, principal Ruth Ann Orr said many former students have expressed an interest in touring the building to see recent improvements.

eragan@semissourian.com

388-3627

Pertinent address:

301 N. Clark Ave., Cape Girardeau, MO