Van Buren School Board Looking To Rework Gym Bids

The Van Buren County School Board is considering splitting the Spencer Elementary School gym floor replacement into two separate projects.

Director of Schools Jared Copeland said estimates for a new floor came back at some $350,000. He said the last time the district solicited bids for the project, no bids were placed because of issues with doorway transitions. Copeland said the district could have doors and walls changed and bid out the gym floor separately to generate more interest from bidders.

“I think we talked about potentially closing the doors between the cafeteria too,” Copeland said. “And then I think there’s just one office door on that other side of the gym, so three doors closed up. So, I guess it’s really comparing the costs of just a transition piece to removing a doorway, bricking it up, painting, and all that.”

Copeland said the county has been looking into getting the floor replaced for quite awhile and originally hoped to complete the projects using ESSER funds. He said a new HVAC unit at Van Buren County High School and boiler replacements at the middle school took up some $300,000 of those funds. He said that leaves the gym floor project to be paid for through the system’s fund balance.

Board Member Glenece Cole said she has concerns about the gym doors already, so the proposed changes could bring about positives outside of just the potential for a floor replacement.

“To be honest, with us trying to lock down and keep everything as secure as we do, I don’t like the doors between the gym and the cafeteria anyway, regardless of what we do to the gym floor, just personally,” Cole said. “Because, if you’re on one side or the other, you can open those.”

The board also considered a change order to the existing schematics of the project design as a means of attracting bidders.

“I’m still for it too,” Copeland said. “I think it needs to be done.”