Lee Pulaski, lpulaski@wolfrivermedia.com
The Shawano School Board took the first steps Monday to calling for a November referendum that, if passed by voters, would provide needed renovations to Shawano Community Middle School.
The board voted unanimously to allow district leaders to send out a request for proposals from architects. Once the architects look over what needs to be done to modernize the school, especially its heating and cooling system, final cost estimates will be presented to the board.
“We started looking at the heating and cooling there, and how to resolve that. As you know, it’s getting rather old,” Superintendent Gary Cumberland explained to the board.
Maintenance director Jeff Easter has been trying to keep the system running, but there could come a day when replacement parts are no longer available, Cumberland said.
“As we looked into it, there were other remodeling projects that came up, and we felt they needed to be resolved,” Cumberland said.
Other potential projects include changing some of the walls in order to allow air to circulate properly, Cumberland said. There might also be a renovation of the school commons to allow a full grade to eat at one time; seating space is currently at a premium.
Easter said there would be some cost for the architectural drawings, possibly in the $40,000 range. He would also ask contractors what they would charge, he said.
“The timeline would be to almost immediately start looking at architects and hopefully have them chosen and have their work done by early July,” Easter said. “In August, we’d like to have a good solid idea how much it would cost.”