By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
When it rains, it pours. That seems to go for showers as well.
The Bowling Green Board of Education got the news Tuesday evening that repairs to the high school boys lockeroom shower area could cost between $380,000 and $425,000.
“It’s not a cheap fix,” said Kent Buehrer, of Buehrer Group Architecture.
Those estimates include fixing and reconfiguring the shower area, plus renovating the toilets, training room and coaches’ offices.
The board was made aware of the shower problems last month when Superintendent Francis Scruci said boys were not able to shower after gym or athletics because the shower area had been shut off due to large cracks in the walls and floor.
Buehrer showed slides of the area beneath the shower room floor, where the floor deck was sagging. He said this is a common problem in schools built in the 1960s and 1970s, where water leaks cause corrosion of the bar joists.
So while the estimate was higher than expected, Buehrer did offer a small bit of good news.
“The roof isn’t going to collapse. That’s a good thing,” he said. The heavy masonry wall in the center of the shower room has settled and is pulling away from the roof deck.
While fixing the shower room, Buehrer suggested that the toilet area be updated to make it ADA accessible. The weight room, which has been in need of repairs for years, may also be added to the renovation project.
Funding for the project will come from the school district’s permanent improvement levy, according to Treasurer Rhonda Melchi and board president Ellen Scholl.
Those funds may also be used to resurface the track surrounding the football field.
“The track is down to the asphalt,” Scruci said. The good news in this case, is that there are no cracks in the asphalt.
Replacing the track with latex, which lasts five to eight years, is estimated to cost $75,000 to $85,000. The cost for a polyurethane surface, which lasts 12 to 15 years, is estimated at $175,000 to $180,000.
The current track surface is latex, which was put in 10 year ago.
Board member Jill Carr asked about the possibility of raising funds for the track project by approaching alumni and others who may want to donate. Scruci agreed that could be a possibility.
Also at Tuesday’s meeting, the school board heard an update on “The Boot” security system from Rob Couturier and Joe Thiel, of the Lockdown Co.
The steel plates are being installed on every door in the school district to be used to prevent intruders from harming students or staff. Couturier said a “boot” was installed in the Bowling Green police and fire divisions so they could be used for training.
Placards, which help identify specific rooms for emergency responders, will also be installed in all the district’s school hallways soon. According to Couturier, several schools are following Bowling Green’s lead on installing the safety equipment.
“You don’t know as a board what you’ve done for the state of Ohio,” he said. “It’s now affecting thousands of people all around you.”
Thiel presented the board with another product that will save on energy costs and turn the safety system into “smart boots.” Thiel proposed retrofitting the fluorescent lighting at all the schools with LED lighting that would pay for itself through energy savings in less than two years.
The “smart boot” system occurs when one of the steel plates is engaged in a room, causing the entire school building’s lights to turn red so everyone is alerted to the potential danger.
“It’s our goal to keep kids safe,” Thiel said.
The lighting, as well as the “boots” could be moved and reinstalled in a new school building if the decision is made for the district to construct a new centralized elementary building.
