NEW SCHOOL COSTS TOP $22 MILLION; ARCHITECTS SHOW BOARD PLANS FOR NEW FACILITIES

Cape Girardeau's proposed new school buildings will provide for interdisciplinary teaching in "classroom clusters," will safeguard sixth-graders in the new middle school, will be "technology-ready" and will use as much natural lighting as possible, the architects who designed them said Monday night.

The architects unveiled the designs for the two planned buildings a middle school and an elementary school to the Cape Girardeau Board of Education and the Project Partnership Committee.

The price tag for the project, which includes construction of the schools as well as an addition to Jefferson School and air conditioning of all the city's public schools, was put at $22.2 million-plus.

The money is to be raised by putting a bond issue before voters in April.

The "plus" part of the estimate, Superintendent Neyland Clark said, would account for seismic retrofitting of all the district's facilities, in addition to a contingency fee and legal fees incurred by the project.

The plans culminated three months of work by the architects, who solicited the opinions of teachers, students and members of the Project Partnership Committee in designing the schools.

"I believe these plans reflect community needs, reflect the community's spirit," said Julius Jura'csik, a partner in the Christner Partnership, Inc. of St. Louis.

"If you look at this and you don't have a tingle go down your spine, come see me because you're nearing death," Clark remarked to the board.

Ed Thompson, president of the board, concurred. "Since my kids have been in school, this is by far the most exciting thing I've ever seen," he said.

The schools are to be located on 55 acres of district-owned property on the northern corners of Sprigg and Bertling streets. The middle school is to be sited on the western side of Sprigg, the elementary school on the eastern side.

The middle school is designed for a population of 1,200 students, with 400 students in 16 classrooms in each grade.

As designed, the school includes 163,000 square feet of instructional space. Each of the 48 classrooms is supposed to serve 25 students.

Louis R. Saur, the designing architect, said "the idea is to create small communities for students within the larger school."

The bottom level of the two-story school would be dedicated to the sixth-graders, who would have their own access to the outdoors.

"There was a lot of concern to keep the sixth-graders separate," Saur said.

While there is concern, the district does want to switch its sixth-graders to a middle school environment. It is one of only 14 districts in the state that still educates sixth-graders in elementary schools.

Labs for art, media, life skills and technology education would be available to all students.

The middle school also features a patio off the cafeteria with a dramatic view of the city.

The design of the 60,000-square-foot elementary school follows the "classroom cluster" concept, which groups three rooms of the same grade, promoting easier team teaching. All the clusters have direct access to the outside and ring the instructional materials center.

Skylights are located in the cluster areas.

Saur said the academic sides of both buildings are designed to be closed off, allowing the gymnasium and student commons to be accessible to the public at night or on weekends.

Both schools also are designed to separate the bus drop-off zone from vehicular traffic.

Both schools will have computer rooms and the capacity for interactive television.

Part of the $22.2 million price of the project accounts for 12 additional classrooms and an early childhood center at Jefferson School, enabling the school's enrollment to increase to 500.

The cost includes $1.5 million to install air conditioning, improve the electrical capacity and make cosmetic improvements at Central High School.

The cost of air conditioning, improving the electrical capacity and installing an elevator at the Central Junior High School was put at $1 million.

Clark said the new schools will enable the district to reduce enrollments at other schools and to stop using rented mobile classrooms.

If the schools are built, the board will close the aged May Greene, Washington and Louis J. Schultz schools.

In addition, Clark said, "We're building for moderate growth."

"Every child in our district will benefit from this program," Thompson told the board.

Bob Fox, head of the Project Partnership Committee's building subcommittee, said he was "totally impressed" with the architectural design.

"... I hope the community's as impressed," he said.