By Kellen Olshefski
Correspondent
With the beginning of the 2017-18 school year just around the corner, the Elkhorn Area School District aims to have a large number of projects connected to last year’s $22.4 million referendum completed when students walk through the doors on Sept. 5.
Elkhorn Area School District Superintendent Jason Tadlock said Monday remodeled classrooms that were part of the referendum should be completed by the time school kicks off.
According to a project timeline provided by Tadlock, this would include the special education suite at the middle school, second floor science and special education rooms at the high school, first floor business classroom renovations and, the addition of a greenhouse at the high school reaching completion early this fall.
As for major outliers at this point, Tadlock said both the high school’s James A. Wehner Auditorium and the new athletic facility are expected to reach completion at a later date, likely spring or early summer next year.
In the high school’s Suchy Gym, Tadlock said crews will have a bulk of the work completed by the end of this school year, though the district is opting to hold off on replacing floors at this time to wait for the completion of the new wrestling room and athletic center. He said the district doesn’t want to replace the flooring at this time because it will be at risk of scratches when moving wrestling and gymnastic equipment both during their respective sports’ seasons and once the multi-use athletic facility and wrestling rooms are completed.
As for improvements to outdoor athletic facilities at the high school, Tadlock said the district will be resurfacing the track and putting in turf on the high school football field following next year’s track season, meaning it will be ready for fall sports in 2019. The tennis courts are slated to be finished early this fall.
Tadlock said he’s uncertain whether the district will be able to get seed down on additional athletic fields that were added to the project list as part of the land acquisition with the city’s East Market Street project, though that’s the goal.
“We’re hoping that can get leveled and ready to put seed in yet this fall,” he said.
When it comes to reconfiguring the parking lot and traffic flow at the Elkhorn Area Middle School, Tadlock said the plan is to begin that project next year, coinciding more closely with construction of the East Market Street expansion set to tie Court and Geneva streets together.
Hurdles encountered
While Tadlock said the large amounts of rain received this summer the water levels at the construction site are much higher than when they originally took core samples, it hasn’t resulted in a major negative impact on the project timeline.
He also noted that even though the remediation of poor soil was included in the project’s budget, the district had hoped it wouldn’t have to do any, though it ultimately did at the high school to maintain stability in the parking lot.
“It didn’t cost more than what the contingency was that we had set aside for it, but it’s just an expense that we always hope we don’t have to pay for,” he said.
“But, we weren’t surprised when it came up that we had to do some remediation.”
Overall win for district
Tadlock said the district has been very pleased thus far with progress made on the projects and said the contractor leading the project – C.G. Schmidt – has been great to work with.
“They’ve always been flexible and on top of things… just great to work with,” he said.
Tadlock also noted with the district’s other most recent referendum, this would mark the third year that the district has been working along both C. G. Schmidt and architects Eppstein-Uhen.
“I think this time around everyone knows each other really well, and knows what the needs are,” he said. “We’ve had close to three years together as a team now. It’s been a good partnership all around.”
At this time, Tadlock said the district is ready and excited for the project to reach completion, and more so, are thrilled that both students and the community will finally have access to these facilities.
“We’re excited to get the community in and see the results,” he said. “We’d love to have them come in and take a look.”
