Crews making progress on new Delta Elementary School

A layer of gravel and pipes jutting out of the ground marks the progress at the construction site of Delta School District's new elementary school.

A wet spring delayed the project, but school officials said they hope to make advancements during the summer.

"I look for the work to really start picking up," said superintendent Nate Crowden. "There will be a lot quicker changes than you're seeing now."

Crowden said evidence of the building's progress is in the ground. Workers are finishing the footings of the structure, the underground plumbing and the electrical work. The floor should be poured within the next month and the structure will start to take form, he said.

"Once they get the slab down, things will really go to town," said school board president Herbert Blattel Jr.

David Wills moves gravel around plumbing pipes in preparation for concrete work Wednesday morning at the new Delta Elementary School.

Voters approved a $2.6 million bond issue in August to build a new elementary school, which will house 160 to 170 students per year in kindergarten through sixth grade. Crowden said construction started in mid-March with Denali Construction of Cape Girardeau.

The new building, which will face the parking area of the high school, will be situated on 13 acres. The old elementary school is on Route N, more than three miles out of town and away from the high school.

Crowden said the new setup will save on busing costs and is logical for a smaller district like Delta.

"Our size school shouldn't be that way," he said. "It should be on one campus."

Elementary school principal Mary Livingston said putting the buildings together will have advantages. The schools share music, art and physical education teachers, who travel between the buildings. She said scheduling those classes will be easier with the buildings closer together.

The 33,995-square-foot building will have 15 instructional classrooms and a gym that doubles as a cafeteria. The gym, which will seat 500 people, will ease after-school practice schedules for high school sports teams, Crowden said. He said there will also be new baseball and softball fields put in behind the new elementary.

The old building, which is more than 50 years old, had problems, including asbestos and a leaky ceiling. Before the election, the school board estimated renovations to the building cost $2.2 million.

"The old building, it leaks and the electronics were maxed out," said Co-Ann Below, a fourth-grade teacher. She said the technology is limited by available wiring.

Crowden said the building did not accommodate the technological advancements in education. Because the asbestos in the ceiling would be dangerous to disturb, he said, computer cables run along the ceilings in classrooms and hallways.

"We made it functional, but it wasn't pretty," he said.

Below said her classroom has one computer aside from what is available in the computer lab. She said the biggest advantage of the new building will be its ability to handle more computers and smart boards.

"We will be able to stay up with what today's life is like," she said. "Right now we're locked in what we can offer kids."

Below, who has taught at the school for 26 years, was in the school's first class of first-graders.

She and her husband attended the school for eight years. Their three children also passed through the halls of the old elementary.

She said she has concerns about what will happen to the old building, whether it will be demolished or left to deteriorate.

"I'm more excited about the new one than the fear of losing the old," she said.

Crowden said the district would like to sell the ground and the building, but the decision will be made when construction of the new building is complete.

Blattel said a company has expressed interest in buying the building for storage. He said the structure has not been appraised.

Crowden said he initially hoped to move students into the new building around Christmas, but it probably will not be ready until next spring.

"We want to get in as quick as possible, but we don't want to hurry or rush anything," he said.

abusch@semissourian.com

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Pertinent address:

324 Liberty St., Delta, MO