NELL HOLCOMB TO EMBARK UPON $500,000 RENOVATION PROJECT

Nell Holcomb School District will open bids next week on a major renovation of the original classroom and cafeteria portion of the school complex.

The work will begin when school is dismissed for the summer and should be completed before school reopens in late August.

Bids will be opened at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the school on Highway 177 north of Cape Girardeau.

Superintendent David Fuemmeler said the project will cost in excess of $500,000. It will include the removal of asbestos insulation above the ceiling in the classrooms and offices, installation of energy efficient walls and windows on both sides of the building, a new heating and air-conditioning plant, the addition of two rooms to the existing building, and a new roof.

Fuemmeler said the renovation is long overdue. He said: "With the exception of some exterior, cosmetic maintenance very little has been done to the original building since it was constructed in 1959. One reason is the asbestos insulation that was applied 25 years ago. We've needed to do the work, but we had to have the extra money for the asbestos removal."

Fuemmeler said no tax increase was required for the renovation. He said: "The school board has been putting aside money in the budget for a number of years in anticipation of this project. It's tough to ask for a tax increase at this time. We felt that rather than try to build a new building we could renovate the existing building."

Fuemmeler said the asbestos will be removed before any work is done.

"We have a local asbestos abatement consultant who is working with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to obtain the necessary permits for the work," he said. "The contractor will cut out the ceilings of all the classrooms and offices and remove the asbestos insulation, then install a new, dropped ceiling.

"A new room will be added on to the original building by squaring up the northeast corner of the building. The new room will be used as the school library. The other room will be added by taking out existing walls. It will be used as a new classroom."

The school library is now in the basement of the gym. Fuemmeler said: "The gym and basement -- which has four classrooms, an art room, teachers' lounge and work area, plus the heating plant for the gym and basement -- were added on to the original school building in the mid-1970s. The gym addition is in pretty good shape and no work is needed at this time.

"We'll move the library from the basement to the new addition on the main floor, move the art room to the existing library room in the basement, and convert the existing art room into another classroom."

Fuemmeler said while work on the walls and windows is going on new wiring and electrical outlets will be installed in all of the classrooms and offices. Conduit wiring now mounted on the walls in the hallway, classrooms, and offices will be replaced with new conduit wiring that will run through the ceiling.

"We had to put the electrical conduit on the walls below the ceiling because of asbestos insulation on top. It's all rather unsightly," said Fuemmeler. "When everything is done all of the conduit and wiring will be out of sight."

Fuemmeler said the building's heating plant is also showing age. "After 25 years a lot of corrosion has built up in the water pipes, and the boiler isn't exactly state-of-the-art. It's expensive to maintain and operate. We've had to make repairs on it several times. We've been very fortunate that no school days were missed while the repairs were made."

Fuemmeler said the 300-watt bulbs in the classrooms and cafeteria will be replaced by more energy-efficient lighting. "By the time all the work is completed we'll have an energy-efficient building that should result in cost savings on utilities," he said.

"We'll also upgrade the entrances to the original building to make the building accessible to the handicapped. Any time you renovate now you must include those updates to the existing facilities to conform with the Americans with Disabilities Act," Fuemmeler said.

The school district has approximately 300 students in kindergarten through eighth grade. High-school-age students have the option of attending either Cape Girardeau or Jackson schools.

The district's operating budget is $1.5 million. "We've grown a little in the past three years, but we could grow a lot more if there was more housing available in the district," said Fuemmeler. "There isn't a lot of new housing being built because most of the land is still used for farming."