TEG
FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2016
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PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895
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Good Evening
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Thanks for a great
show, Granada!
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
CLINT BLACK
ROCKS GRANADA
C
lint Black played to a sold-out crowd in the Granada Theater Thursday night. He sang his hits and
told stories about his friendship with Roy Rodgers and
Dale Evans that pleased the crowd.
Upcoming events
MAY 27 — Special showing of
“Purple Rain” starring
Prince followed by
Paisley Park-style dance
party
JUNE 25 — Dancers 4 Cancer
will be appearing at
the Emporia Granada
Theatre.
JULY 24 — Country act Wynonna
& The Big Noise will
perform at the Granada.
AUG. 20 — Billy Bob Thornton and
the Boxmasters will
perform a concert at
the Granada
For more information,
visit www.emporiagranada.com
C O U R T E S Y
P H O T O S
B Y
J A N
B U C K M A N
STUDY SESSION FOR USD
284 DETAILS PROPOSAL
By Jesse Murphy
[email protected]
The Chase County USD 284
Board of Education met on
Wednesday for a study session to
review the most recent proposal
from the facilities committee.
Architect Warren Ediger gave
the main portion of the presentation to the board during the meeting that followed one week after
the regularly monthly board meeting.
As it stands now, the bond proposal voters will see on the ballot
is not set, but the estimated cost of
the work would be $11.56 million.
“I think the consensus was that
it’s not the most ideal number but
it hits everything that we need to
do,” Ediger said. “It’s in the range
that would be an acceptable number.”
The committee — comprised
of school faculty, staff, board and
community members — have met
several times during the last few
months and came up with three
options.
The first was the high-end,
roughly $16 million. The second
hit the lowest mark at about $6
million.
“The discussion went to that
there’s a number in between those
that will be acceptable to the
community,” Ediger said. “We approached this as ‘what is the minimum that we could do and still
improve the schools to where it’s
reasonable?’”
So the latest proposal hit a mark
right around the middle of the first
two, and it was passed unanimously by the 12-person committee.
VOL. 124, NO. 276
“We’ve met with staff and the
administration and we know what
the needs are,” Ediger said. “So we
have a good working knowledge of
the buildings. We took that information and got what we feel satisfies that whole list.”
The proposal is still open to
fine-tuning, and the first public
meeting on it was set for 7 p.m. on
June 15 at the elementary school in
Strong City.
Board members agreed that the
COURTESY PHOTO/GAZETTE
best way to approach the meeting
and get the most feedback from the The proposed work for the elementary school includes a new multi-purpose room (shown in green) on
community is to open with an in- the south side of the building. The addition would also serve as a storm shelter.
troduction, split into small groups
and get back for a question and answer session.
The proposal was originally
given to the board during a regular
meeting last week, which prompted further discussion.
A bond for $11.56 million is
much lower than the $28.5 million
that Chase County voters turned
down last August.
The work that would be done at
the elementary school is that the
gym would be turned into classrooms as would the library.
A multi-purpose room would
be added on to the south side of
the building with brick and stone
to match the existing structure. It
would also serve as a FEMA compliant storm shelter.
The rest of the facility would
be renovated as needed, with new
floors, ceilings, paint and energyefficient lighting. HVAC systems
would be repaired or replaced.
At the high school, a new wrestling and weight room would be
built on the north side of the building along Main Street. This would
COURTESY PHOTO/GAZETTE
serve as the building’s storm shelter.
This design shows the proposed work to the high school in Cottonwood Falls. The green building to
Please see USD 284, Page 3
the north would be a weight room and wrestling facility, a new gym would be added on the south side.
Renovations would occur throughout the rest of the building.