Building addition improves student safety at South Central Middle School
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Sentinel Poto/DENNIS ROSENBERGER
RIBBON CUTTING — South Central Middle School held a ribbon cutting on Wednesday, to celebrate the completion of the school’s new building addition. FROM LEFT are school board members Jason Markley and Jeremy Chasteen, board President Mike Vandeveer, board member Rob Jones, Superintendent Kerry Herdes, Middle School Principal Greg Grinestaff and board members Tyler Neilson and Erin Engel.
By DENNIS ROSENBERGER
Sentinel Poto/DENNIS ROSENBERGER
NEW ADDITION — An addition to the South Central Middle School was constructed over the summer, to connect the gym to the main building, making it possible for students to go back and forth between the buildings without having to go outside.
Sentinel Poto/DENNIS ROSENBERGER
SAFE PASSAGE — This hallway connects the gym and the main building at South Central Middle School in Kinmundy. The connection was added as part of a summer project to improve student safety.
Sentinel Poto/DENNIS ROSENBERGER
GYM LOBBY — A small lobby was added on to the front of the South Central Middle School gym, as part of the building work that was completed over the summer.
KINMUNDY — The South Central School District completed a building addition at the middle school in Kinmundy over the summer, that connects the main classroom building with the gym, making it possible for students to get from one building to the other without having to go outside.
A ribbon cutting was held by school officials on Wednesday evening to celebrate the project’s completion.
Superintendent Kerry Herdes explained that the addition connecting the gym to the main building was a much-needed safety improvement for the school.
“We didn’t have a connection point here at South Central Middle School that was secure and safe for the kids to go back and forth from the gym to the classroom,” said Herdes. That was the main issue … it was a real safety factor. What we were really aiming to do was make it where they didn’t have to go outside.”
Along with the addition that connects the two buildings, the project also added a small lobby area onto the front of the gym, along with two new restrooms, and replaced the glass in the doors leading into the gym.
Herdes noted that glass was also added back into the gym’s circular roof, like it was when the gym was originally built. He noted that the glass areas in the roof were filled in with plywood years ago, but this project restored the glass into the original places.
The area around the gym’s concession stand was also renovated and upgraded.
In addition, four other restrooms in the main building were also remodeled to bring them into Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance, according to Herdes.
According to South Central Middle School Principal Greg Grinestaff, the upgrades provided by the summer project have been long needed at the school.
“It’s been a longtime coming and we’re tickled to death to have this completed,” said Grinestaff. Now we can keep the kids out of the rain and the snow, and just keep them safe.”
He added that the new addition and other renovations have been met with positive reviews, as the students have returned to start the new school year.
“They love it,” said Grinestaff. They love the fact that they don’t have to go outside to go to P.E., or to come over here for band or choir.”
According to Herdes, the summer building project was completed for a price of roughly $2.9 million, with Poettker Construction serving as the construction manager for the project and Johannes Construction doing the building work.
The cost of the project was paid out of two different funding sources, including federal Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Program funds and local sales tax revenue, Herdes added.
“We used about $1 million from ESSER III funds and about $2 million from the 1% sales tax,” he explained. “So, there is no property tax increase involved.”
