PREVIEWING PLANS: TALLENT GIVES UPDATE ON CONSTRUCTION SCHEME

Cape Girardeau schools Superintendent Dr. Dan Tallent updated business leaders on new construction plans during the Chamber of Commerce First Friday Coffee meeting held at the Show Me Center.

The district will begin taking bids for site work Tuesday at 1 p.m. for the new elementary school to be built near the Sprigg-Bertling intersection, Tallent said. A ground-breaking ceremony will be held at the site at 1 p.m., Wednesday.

The new school, which will cost the district an estimated $3.5 million, will be functional but attractive, he said. "We tried to design a building that was very functional and yet very economical to build so we could put the other dollars in the inside of the building," he said.

Tallent said the corn crop is also finally out of the field that will eventually become the new site for the vo-tech school. Soil-sampling will begin next week at the site, located just south of where the new I-55 interchange will be placed.

Tallent said construction at the site has been delayed several times over the past two months because the inherited corn crop wasn't harvested.

"The community is really getting behind this project," Tallent said. "We've had about a quarter of a million dollars for equipment and technology in the last six months. I think that by the time we get ready to put this building on line, we'll have state-of-the-art equipment. This benefits everyone because we want our graduates to be able to come to work for you or be able to go on and continue their education."

Other building and renovation projects are also in the planning stages. Tallent said plans for a new high school campus and renovations to Franklin, Clippard, Alma Schrader and Jefferson are underway. The renovation projects will make the schools more comfortable and efficient in preparation for populations of 400 to 450 students in the future, he said.

"Our goal is that when we start our school year next fall, all of our elementary buildings will be remodeled, air conditioned and ready to go," he said. "We aren't planning any major renovations at Schulz because we will eventually move out of that building."