Kenston Schools is one step closer to having a revamped football stadium and new bus garage, despite some residents not being on board.The school board…
Kenston Schools is one step closer to having a revamped football stadium and new bus garage, despite some residents not being on board.
The school board Dec. 17 unanimously approved legislation to go out for bids for the remodeling of the high school football stadium and turning the former Gardiner Elementary School into the district’s transportation offices and bus garage.
Architect Everett Musser of the architecture and engineering firm Fanning Howey, presented final plans for both projects at the special meeting.
The plans remained largely the same as in past months.
The stadium, located on the district campus on Bainbridge Road, will have new seats on the home side and refurbished bleachers on the visitor side. There will also be a new press box, a resurfaced track and remodeled restrooms.
Musser said a well will need to be installed somewhere on the property due to lack of water pressure.
The plans for the bus garage at Gardiner Elementary, located on Bainbridge Road near Snyder Road, have been tweaked slightly with the parking spaces angled instead of straight, and more trees and a security fence added to the perimeter.
“The lights will be about 20 feet high and will be similar to the light level at a grocery store parking lot,” Musser said.
Musser said he has been working closely with former district superintendent Robert Lee and Melody Coniglio, director of transportation, on details of the garage plans.
Lee and Coniglio attended the Dec. 17 meeting.
During discussion of the plans, board member William Timmons wondered why a certain corridor of Gardiner needs to remain heated when the rooms are only being used for storage by community groups. Timmons asked what the cost was going to be to heat it.
Musser said he would check with a professional, but believes not heating the corridor would speed up deterioration of that section of the building.
Final drawings of the stadium and bus garage are expected to be ready for release in January, Musser said. He suggested a two-week bidding process, with the hope of getting the projects awarded to contractors in March.
Because Thursday’s meeting was a special one, public comment was not permitted. However, some residents who have been opposed to the bus garage project were in attendance and asked to speak.
The board amended the agenda to allow for public comment before taking a vote.
Bainbridge Road resident Susan Ridenour said she was concerned at the apparent lack of information for both plans.
She said specifics of where a well would be at the stadium, where fuel tanks would be at the bus garage and the cost of heating rooms at Gardiner should be answered before voting.
“I’m hearing a lot of (vagueness) here,” Ridenour said. “I would never hire someone to do something with all (this vagueness).”
Other residents repeated their concerns of noise, pollution and light. Resident Jeff Ridenour suggested the garage be located instead at a parking lot near Timmons Elementary School.
Board members said they are past the stage of looking at alternative sites and they have done all they can to ensure the bus garage has minimal impact on surrounding homes.
