The Plymouth School Board has approved the hiring of an architect for upgrades to their administration and athletic facilities.
The decision is contingent on the successful issuance of bonds for the project, but follows an extensive presentation that included the help of a recent Plymouth High School graduate. Plans, however, have not been finalized to ensure proper building code is followed and that space is efficiently used.
Plymouth Schools Superintendent Dan Tyree says none of the payments will come out of the budget’s General Fund.
“The projected interest rate, you know, I don’t know what happened with the feds this week, if they increased the interest rate or not, but the interest rates have been pretty low,” says Tyree. “I’d hate to tell you exactly what it is. We’re not going to know that until we sell the bonds.”
Board members removed a preliminary bond resolution from Tuesday’s agenda. The measure would have allowed the school corporation to issue debt to help pay for the upgrades. It will likely be considered at a future meeting.
According to previous meeting discussion, bleachers at the football fields would be replaced for safety and additional seating. Ticket booths and restrooms would also be overhauled for anticipated improvements.
At the administration building, extra storage and office space would be implemented. Tyree says they’re simply out of space.
“We’re adding onto both ends. Any storage that we have, we have to go across the street and upstairs to store everything so the east end will have a storage area upstairs so the gals don’t have to walk out and go across the street,” says Tyree.
The architect hired by the school board will now work to finalize designs for the school corporation.
Design proposals are anticipated for review at future meetings.
