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Arkansas City schools may consider bond issue for future building needs

By FOSS FARRAR
Traveler Staff Writer

Three Wichita architectural firms Monday night discussed how they could help the Arkansas City Public Schools win a bond election to make needed capital improvements.

District officials are in the early stages of discussions that could lead to a request from voters to raise property taxes to update aging school and athletic facilities.

USD 470 is not planning to ask for a bond election in the immediate future, a district spokeswoman said, but school officials want to develop a long-term plan for facility improvements.

"Eventually, that's where we hope to move,"said Kristen Martinez, the USD 470 spokeswoman. "What it will entail depends on the community, the board and the administration. A lot of people will have input."

The board may have a difficult time choosing one of the three firms to work with, Martinez added. All three have good credentials, having worked on school facilities in Ark City or surrounding areas.

Each firm spent about an hour talking with the board at its special meeting last night at Arkansas City High School.

* Howard & Helmer Architects has worked on 50 educational facilities in recent years. The company has completed projects in Wellington, Oxford and Winfield, said Jeff Sherrard, project architect.

The firm has worked on athletics facilities and done field turf replacement, replaced lighting and built concessions stands, Sherrard said.

"We find each community project unique," said Ken Helmer, principal in charge of the firm. "The process is always refined a little. There is no boiler plate or one that fits all."

Brenda Zickuhr, interior designer for the company, said the firm finished an addition to Winfield High School for less than the cost estimate. The estimate was $1.985 million but the actual cost $1.831, she said.

Sherrard said a look at USD 470's mill levy history shows it to be the lowest among 10 similar-sized districts, five larger and five smaller than the Ark City School district.

A bond issue could be passed with the firm's help within as little as two months, he said, but it could take as long as a year.

* PBA Architects, the second firm to address the board last night, has worked with the Arkansas City School District on two occasions recently. At a regular board meeting March 13, Duane Hickerson, an architect with the firm, presented plans for a new district office at 2545 Greenway, formerly a doctor's office.

And the firm also did a total school facilities overview for the district last fall, Martinez said.

Hickerson returned last night with two others from the firm. They asked the board for input before presenting facts about the company. "What are your goals?" Hickerson asked.

Board member Daren Reese said any building project should have as its prime goal to enhance student achievement.

Mike Walker, another board member, said the board has a responsibility to be wise stewards of dollars provided by taxpayers.

Board member Glenn Clarkson added that a district-wide vision for facilities improvement is needed instead of the board taking a band-aid approach.

Hickerson noted some concerns previously mentioned at previous meetings with local school officials: indoor air quality, ventilation, lighting, acoustics, and classroom size.

"We've been involved in 12 projects in Ark City, with the city and with the (Cowley) college," he said. "We have a connection here, a vested interest in you and your community."

* Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey Architecture made the final presentation. That firm was established in 1956 and has done more than 800 educational projects. It has been the architect on two previous successful bond projects in Arkansas City, said Kenton Cox, a company architect. Cox noted he was the architect who designed the current Ark City High School, completed in 1983.

In 1996, the firm also worked on another local bond issue: the expansion of six elementary schools, renovation and expansion of the middle school, and the expansion of the high school science, classrooms and athletics facilities.

"We've done 92 projects in USD 259 in Wichita for $284.5 million," Cox said."At North High School, we did a complete renovation of that facility."

Band uniforms

On Monday, the board approved the purchase of 150 band uniforms for $74,775 from Fruhauf Uniforms, Inc., of Wichita.

J.K. Campbell, assistant superintendent for business, told the board that Fruhauf had been recommended by nearby school districts as producing quality band uniforms that should last 10 to 12 years.

Campbell spoke to the Newton, Goddard, Valley Center and Wichita districts; all told him they were pleased with the uniforms they purchased from Fruhauf.