GRC 'Off The Table' As Site For New Elementary School


The Meyer Building on the campus of the Glenwood Resource Center is no longer being considered as a site for a new elementary school for the Glenwood Community School District.

The Glenwood Community School District is nixing its plan to put a new elementary school on the former Glenwood Resource Center Campus.

Back in November, the district announced it was eyeing the former Meyer Building as a new, remodeled home for West Elementary as part of a proposed $50 million facilities upgrade. The project was also to include extensive remodeling to Northeast Elementary, repurposing of West and the installation of new geo-thermal heating and air conditioning systems at the middle school.

While the district remains on schedule to put a bond issue to voters for the facilities improvements in early 2024, the plan has “pivoted” away from the GRC campus housing a new elementary to substantial remodels of both West and Northeast elementaries. The HVAC updates at the middle school would also remain on track.

Glenwood Superintendent Dr. Devin Embray said the community response to the idea of moving third through fifth graders to a 100-year-old building, even a remodeled one, wasn’t popular.

“The GRC is out as to having a three through five school up there,” Embray said. “It’s off the table but we are lobbying for the master plan to provide space up on the campus so that in 20 years we could put West Elementary up there.”

The state is currently undertaking a feasibility study of the GRC campus, which will close at the end of the year. Embray serves on the state appointed GRC re-development task force that, along with Omaha-based architectural and engineering firm hired HDR, Inc., is evaluating the property’s future use. The state has said it was in favor of the district maintaining a presence on the campus.

Embray declined to say how many district residents he spoke to about the West to Meyer building proposal, but did say he wasn’t surprised by the negative sentiment.

“We put feelers out to people about it, it wasn’t a huge survey and the feedback we received was it didn’t make sense to spend tax dollars to go from one 100-year-old building that has been remodeled and put it in another 100-year-old building that would be remodeled,” he said.

“It didn’t seem like we were gaining anything but moving the building. That was going to be a heavy lift anyway. It’s a $15 to $20 million project. It didn’t make sense to them. Trying to be pragmatic about, we agreed, and we went in a different direction.”

The Meyer building may be out as the future home of West, but the district hasn’t ruled out the idea of the building being a district asset just yet. Embray said the site could be a possible home for its “ancillary services” all under one roof, including the district’s central office, Kids Place and print shop and its technology, food, THRIVE and special education students’ services departments.

The GRC campus currently houses the district’s central office, Head Start program and its Kids Place pre-kindergarten and daycare in the same building at 103 Central. Prior to that the campus housed the Glenwood Middle School in the Meyer Building for 18 years until the opening of the new high school.

Back in November, the Glenwood Board of Education contracted with Clark and Enersen of Lincoln, Neb. for the pre-bond and post bond programming as well as the conceptual designing and construction specification of the district’s facilities plan.

The district remains on schedule to put a bond to voters in the Spring of 2024. Just how much that bond will be remains up in the air. With the changes to the plan, Embray said he is hopeful the final price tag will come in well below $50 million.

Back in November, Embray estimated the district could bond for up to $50 million while adding less than .75 cents to the current $16.10 tax levy rate. He added, “When I got here 13 years ago it was over $18.90.”

That construction cost was calculated based on the long-range facilities plan conducted by Omaha architecture and engineering company Prochaska and Associates. Those costs estimates are based on the “20-year average” of construction costs but are subject to market factors.
 

The Opinion-Tribune

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