By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle
Inside Taft High School, rotary hammers drill into concrete flooring as shovels at the ready, lean against the dimly lit hall.
Already some work is under way — financed by the $73 million bond that was approved by Lincoln County School District voters just three months ago — and more project planning across all the schools has started.
Half of the bond’s proceeds are going towards dozens of repairs to aging buildings, increasing school security, accessibility, and modernizing plumbing, air systems and technology. The other half is earmarked for the construction of performing arts buildings at three high schools, which has been estimated at $10 million each.
Funds from bonds can be used for large-cost projects like new construction, purchasing property, technology upgrades and classroom improvements but cannot be used for operating costs, salaries, retirement benefits or other expenses.
At Taft High, individual restrooms are being built, a new scoreboard is being erected and improvements are coming to its auditorium. At Taft Elementary, desks and shelves are pushed into the hallways as opaque plastic covers and tubes snake out of classroom doors for asbestos abatement.
Meanwhile, Crestview Heights Elementary School in Waldport is one-third of the way into getting a new roof and Yaquina View Elementary is adding two classrooms for special education.
In August, Newport High School will get new synthetic turf and at Oceanlake Elementary the chips surrounding the swing set will be replaced by rubber tiles, said LCSD facilities manager Rich Belloni.
On Tuesday, the school board is scheduled to approve a bid for siding and windows at Crestview and authorizing staff to begin negotiations with Glas Architects of Eugene for design services for the three auditoriums.
For a complete list of projects go to the school district’s website here.
Busy with summer projects
The inside Taft High School smells of fresh drywall. Construction workers are removing tiles and digging below the bare ground to connect new pipelines to toilets.
“It’s a big deal, individual restrooms are a big deal,” Belloni said.
Individual restrooms were constructed last school year at Newport High, which saw its rates of vandalism and smoking and vaping in the bathrooms plummet, Belloni said.
The goal is to complete most of the work started this summer before school starts again in September. The entirety of the dozens of big and small projects have a three-year deadline, which isn’t very long when you take into consideration that most of the work needs to be done in the summer, Belloni said.
“We don’t want to take time away from the kids,” Belloni said.
Summer months are also for construction because of Oregon’s coastal weather. That’s been the biggest challenge so far Belloni said. But the school district is also competing for contractors to do the work at the same time everyone else is in Oregon.
Some projects will pick up in the winter, like the expansion of the music room at Taft Elementary while other projects like a fresh coat of paint to all the school buildings are slated for next summer.
“We were really pleased to see how well the bond passed, and now we’re getting to work,” Belloni said.
- Shayla Escudero covers Lincoln County government, education, Newport, housing and social services for Lincoln Chronicle and can be reached at Shayla@LincolnChronicle.org
Sweet!