Jefferson Elementary civic center, pool project update

Bid day for the revised $11.3 million civic center project at Jefferson Elementary, including an estimated $5.4 million aquatics center, is expected late this month or "probably in May," said Cape Girardeau School District superintendent Neil Glass Thursday.

Glass, who said the district is "in lockstep" with the City of Cape Girardeau on the project, remains confident of groundbreaking this summer.

In September, Glass proposed to the school board a more expensive building to house the pool, suggesting a less costly "sprung structure" with a canvas covering similar to the current Central Municipal "bubble" pool, won't be "conducive" to meet future needs.

The "bricks and mortar" construction for the new Jefferson pool, costing $1 million more than a sprung structure, should last 50 years, said Glass -- twice as long as the estimate for the canvas-covered option.

Unknown factor

Glass said he is concerned about what has happened to construction costs since outlining his revised plan last fall.

"Material prices have skyrocketed, I think, since November and December," said Glass.

"We're trying to look for some alternatives, some value engineering on products we go with, so we save every dollar we can," he added, noting he's hopeful the district can avoid "sticker shock" on bid day.

History

The school district and the City of Cape Girardeau previously reached an agreement on a two-pool plan -- the new Jefferson pool and renovation of the existing municipal "bubble" pool.

In April 2018, Cape Girardeau voters approved a parks/stormwater tax, which included funding for an indoor aquatic center.

In April 2019, school district voters approved a bond issue to raise $4 million for the aquatic project.

In September, Glass said $2 million in district's capital project money could be tapped, although he said he would be "comfortable" using half of it toward the civic center, even taking the balance down to $500,000, if necessary.

The capital project monies, Glass acknowledged then, are normally viewed as "rainy day" funds by the district.

Glass said if money runs tight on the total project -- meant to "closely resemble" the Southeast Missouri State University recreational pool -- the district can "a la carte" certain pieces of the plan.

The Southeast pool has a slide, a whirlpool and lanes set aside for community use.