The South Callaway School Board discussed adding an addendum onto the football field facility updates the school is currently improving at its regular meeting Wednesday.
Superintendent Kevin Hillman proposed a bid from Rhad Baker for an estimated $85,000 to add siding to the football field bleachers and construct a 20 by 144 foot facility to be used as storage for sports equipment. The siding on the bleachers would improve the cosmetics of the area and prevent students from climbing on the skeleton of the structures and potentially getting injured, Hillman said. The estimated completion date would be October 2, which is during football season. Members of the board argued now is not the right time to start on another project.
Board members Dawn Bailey and Heidi Powers said the old locker rooms should be turned into storage facilities for the various teams' equipment, but Hillman argued that wouldn't be possible now that the completion date for the football field project has changed.
"It would be completed in the middle of football season," board member Micah Benningfield said. "That means constantly having to bring in and take out construction equipment during the season." Benningfield went on to argue that materials for the project would stay out and be in the way during games and that the skeleton of the bleachers would still be exposed for the first half of the season.
Professional Contractors and Engineers, Inc. stated that locker companies across the U.S. have taken on more orders than they can produce, which means the new lockers won't be shipped until October 10. This forces the football team to continue using the current locker room until the new facilities are complete.
The rest of the initial project, which is working on rebuilding the arena around the football field including a new concession stand and "plaza," has been pushed back a month due to rainfall. Grove Construction, which is taking on the project had 15 rain days over the summer, PCE representatives said. The project, aside from receiving the new lockers, is expected to be complete on September 23.
Sports equipment is currently being stored in two of the transportation bays as the old storage shed was torn down during the initial improvement project.
The bid for the addendum will stand for 90 days and members of the board want to see the cost breakdown for the project - how much it would cost for adding siding to the bleachers without building the storage shed. The board tabled the discussion until the next board meeting.