Architect contract selected by school board

ELIZABETHTOWN — The Bladen County Board of Education voted Monday night to accept a contract from SFL+a Architects for the architectural services of a new grades K-8 school to be built in Tar Heel.

Eight out of nine board members voted to accept the contract; Tim Benton was the lone voice against. Benton would like to see the school gym remain intact and for the architect to design around the gym. He said that the gym was a part of history and that it should not be torn down.

The old gym does not meet ADA compliance, according to Rusty Worley with the Maintenance Department. Worley said that the windows, gym floor, and the lighting in the old gym need to be replaced. Also, there is no air conditioning.

Gary Rhoda had an opposing view on the old gym. He stated that the old school should be completely demolished and then built back up.

“I think an old gym will stick out like a sore thumb with a new building,” Rhoda said during the meeting.

According to Worley, the old gym is basically in the parking lot in plans for the new school, and keeping it would cause issues with parking and transportation.

“If we go that route, we’re going to have to figure out what we’re going to do with students for 16 months,” Worley said in regards to renovating the old gym.

Benton had other issues with the plans laid out for the new school. He said that the design needs more classrooms, 11 to be exact. There are 26 classrooms in the current design and, according to Superintendent Dr. Jason Atkinson, the school only needs 26 classrooms.

But Benton said, on the six to eight wing of the school, they have 11 homerooms and that’s before the possibility of adding more students once Cumberland County residents find out about the new school and request that their kids go there. There was discussion during the meeting about adding six more classrooms bringing the total to 32 classrooms.

Adding six more classrooms will cost about $2 million. Benton said that the six classrooms will still leave them one classroom short.

“That’s just my concern,” Benton said during the school board meeting. “I don’t want to build something that’s not big enough. I want a new school. I’m all for a new school.”

Benton is also concerned with the sizes of the multi-purpose rooms after he found out that the multi-purpose rooms will be much smaller than he anticipated. He thought they would be the size of the auxiliary gym at East Bladen High School but it will not be as big.

Benton made it clear that everything he was stating was just his opinion on how everything should proceed. He was not stating the opinions of everyone on the school board.

According to Worley, the construction contract award price or the maximum total cost is $19,707,170. Worley also explained to the school board that the design costs are at $1,389,505.