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Rendering of school revealed
By kristine gill
AUSTINTOWN
New 3-D renderings of one of two buildings slated to begin construction at the end of the school year were revealed after Monday’s school board meeting.
Mal Culp, supervisor of facilities and operations, said the early drawings depict the third-to-fifth-grade building, and the drawings for the kindergarten-through-second-grade building are being finished. Both structures will be operational in September 2013.
Architects from Olsavsky Jaminet Architects Inc. of Youngstown were at the meeting answering questions about the new buildings.
Tracie Kaglic, project manager with the architecture firm, said the buildings have not yet been named, and many of the aesthetic details in the renderings have not been approved, including paint color inside the classrooms and the brickwork outside the building.
The 122,883-square-foot 3-5 building will be built behind Watson Elementary. The 120,108-square-foot K-2 building will sit behind Frank Ohl Intermediate School. Watson and Frank Ohl will be demolished once the new buildings are operational, and playgrounds and employee parking lots will fill their void.
A parking lot for 40 school buses will be built between the new buildings.
At last month’s meeting, the board approved the Idaho Road project, which will extend Idaho Road to New Road and add a stop light. That project will relieve traffic congestion near Frank Ohl and the new buildings and is funded by the Ohio School Facilities Commission, which sets aside money for off-site traffic improvements. That project will cost $750,000, and about $440,000 will be paid for by the district using funds from OSFC.
To make room for the new building behind Frank Ohl, the women’s softball field was relocated to an area behind the 9/11 Memorial Park on Raccoon Road. Culp said that project is complete.
About half of the $50 million project is being paid for by the school using money borrowed through a 2.9-mill bond issue in May, and the rest is funded by the state.