New building on campus

by Tom Coombe
Ely School Board members got a glimpse of the future on Monday.
Both with a brief video presentation and formal drawings (see in this edition), architects presented a look at the anticipated finished product, once a nearly $20 million school improvement project comes to fruition next year.
At the monthly board study session, the board got both an update and the most detailed look yet at drawings for the centerpiece of the project - a new building that will link the Washington and Memorial buildings.
The new structure will do much more than connect the existing schools, it will serve as the sparkling new entrance to the campus and house a new gymnasium, cafeteria, media center, common spaces, offices and classrooms.
The presentation included drawings (see page 11) that showed the interior of the building from multiple angles, with the gyymnasium at the right of the structure, on the side closest to the Washington building.
People in the commons area, which can accommodate up to 180 people, can see the action in the gymnasium through a series of windows.
To the left of the commons is the food service area and at the rear of the structure are classrooms for both music and industrial education.
At the entrance are district and school offices, with the media center also adjacent to the entrance and abutting the elementary school.
The drawings showed 16-feet-wide corridors, with people able to access the Memorial building on either the lower or middle floors, with a ramp allowing for access.
The board heard from Karl Larsen, principal architect for Architectural Resources, Inc., who highlighted a plan that includes the current opening phase - the design of the new structure - followed by a phase that will focus on improvements to the Washington and Memorial buildings.
According to Larsen, 99 percent of the interior of the new building has been designed, with the exception of color concepts and schemes.
Larsen said the building will have high ceilings and make use of natural light, with brick work as part of the new design.
Earlier this month, superintendnet Erik Erie said plans are coming together for an April groundbreaking event that will include state legislators and other dignitaries.
A schedule included in Monday’s meeting packet called for bidding within the next several weeks, and school officials have indicated that construction would begin before the end of the school year.
The project calls for the demolition of the Industrial Arts Building, and also includes the construction of a storage garage for school vehicles near the ice arena.
Completion of the entire initative is tentatively set for the fall of 2022.
The project was spurred by the approval of a $10 million bond referendum by district voters last August, and a subsequent $7 million Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board grant that was triggered as a result.
In December, school board members agreed and allowed for schematic design, design development and preparation of a constuction document that will produce more detailed cost estimates and a plan for the project.
While the new structure has captured much of the attention related to the project, renovations to the Washington and Memorial facilities are also in store.
Plans call for moving Happy Days Preschool to the Washington building as well as the early childhood and Headstart programs.
The Memorial will have a new look, with renovations to classrooms and the conversion of various spaces.
The school district also got welcome financial news in the fall, when interest rates for the school’s debt came in at 1.3998 percent, far below initial projections of 3.24
The interest savings helped the district in another way, as board members issued $1.1 million in additional bonds this month to pay for indoor air quality improvements.
Despite the additional borrowing, the tax impact remains below projections provided by the district in advance of the referendum.
Jodie Zesbaugh of Ehlers and Associates, the financing firm engaged by the district, also took part in Monday’s study session and briefed board members about the debt service and tax impact related to those bonds as well as long-term maintenance debt approved as part of the project funding package.