North Callaway School Board looks at plans for facility upgrades

The North Callaway Board of Education has spent months surveying staff and patrons and evaluating district needs, working to develop a facilities improvement plan.

In December, the board voted to hire The Architects Alliance to develop architectural plans and cost estimates to help the district take the next step toward making those plans a reality. During Thursday night's board meeting, principal architect Cary Gampher and intern architect/project manager Leslie Backstrom gave an update on where they are in that process.

"Since we last met ... we've been into the buildings while the students were out, and we're setting up presentation boards for an eventual final presentation for you," Gampher said.

Gampher and Backstrom shared a series of slides showing floor plans for each building in the district, with highlighted sections showing potential areas in need of improvement and possible upgrades.

Plans at the T-Bird Learning Center include two different options for a storm shelter - a 3,000-5,000 square foot structure that would serve as a shelter for the T-Bird center, the central office and the high school, or a 150-250 square foot structure for just the T-Bird center.

At Auxvasse Elementary, the list included asbestos abatement, lighting upgrades and 25,000 square feet of ceiling tile replacement - Backstrom said she recommends switching from a 2x4 grid to 2x2 grid because "it holds up better over the long run."

At Hatton-McCredie, plans include a new gym floor, ceiling renovations, lighting upgrades and possible relocation of exposed piping and conduits.

Potential projects at Williamsburg Elementary include the gym floor, ceiling repairs, lighting, putting up more metal siding and a proposal for improvements to vestibule setup - with the goal to improve security by providing better visibility to office staff.

To help the tornado-stricken people of Dumas and surroundings, donations can be made to the Delta Area Disaster Relief Fund, care of the Delta Area Community Foundation, P.O. Box 894, Dumas, AR, 71639, or through the Arkansas Community Foundation, 700 S. Rock St., Little Rock, AR, 72202.