Purdy School breaks ground on FEMA shelter, arts center
From left: Mike Freitas, RE Smith Construction Project Manager; Kirsten Whitehead, Paragon Architecture; Mindi Gates, Purdy Associate Superintendent; Ken Terry, Purdy Board Member; Russ Neill, Purdy Board Member; Trae Goetz, Purdy Board Member; Todd Schallert, Purdy Board Member; Randy Henderson, Purdy Board President; Derek Banwart, Purdy 7-12 Principal; Julie Dalton, Purdy K-6 Principal and Steven Chancellor, Purdy Superintendent.
January 31, 2018
Charlea Estes-Jones
After a bit of a delay because of the snowy weather, Purdy Schools recently held their ground breaking for the district’s new FEMA shelter and performing arts building being built on the campus. Purdy students, faculty, the construction team and members of the community met at the site of the school’s soon-to-be shelter and new classrooms on Tuesday morning, January 30, to bring an official start to the construction.
Purdy School District began planning the new addition to the campus in 2016. The school made a bond request to the voters in their district on the August 2016 Primary ballot. The school requested $2.3 million in bond funding to help complete the $4.1 million project. Voters passed the bond, allowing the school to erect not only the FEMA shelter, but convert the space into additional much-needed classrooms and a performing arts center, as well.
Purdy Schools superintendent Dr. Steven Chancellor said it made more sense for the district to make that space multipurpose than to just build a shelter. In addition to giving students and the community a safe place to go in the event of a tornadic storm, it’ll also allow for school performances and a space to rent to the community, as well. Other additions to that structure include two preschool classrooms and a choir classroom.
Dr. Chancellor said, “Right now, we are in the groundwork phase. We will probably wrap that up in the next two weeks. Then, the tentative date for the walls to start going up is February 15. Because those walls are pre-made and delivered, we expect the shelter itself to be built within three weeks after that.”
Essentially, by the second week of March, anyone driving by the school will see that the shelter has taken shape. From there, the school’s contracting company will continue to make all of the additions and finish the inside to the school’s specifications. The construction company completing the work is R.E. Smith. The school is using Paragon Architecture for the design of the building.
Inside the performing arts part of the building, there will be raised seating for around 700 people as well as a stage. Additional seating may be brought in, as well. Dr. Chancellor said, “The seated occupancy is just under what our large gym is where we currently hold the types of events. We foresee the choir performances, band performances and plays will be in the performing arts center. We think we can do graduation, as well.” Currently, all of those events are held in the larger gymnasium.
“One thing we all agreed on: we weren’t going to skimp on the lighting and sound. The mistake a lot of schools make is they forget about the quality of what will be happening in that space. The whole building was designed to fix that problem. We don’t have a good space to do those performances in at this point. So we will have floor treatments, wall treatments and ceiling treatments to make sure we can use the performing arts center for what we need it for,” stated Dr. Chancellor.
Since the grant money from FEMA essentially builds a concrete box, anything to make the space more usable to the district is the responsibility of the school. That includes seating, floors and any audiovisual equipment.
Dr. Chancellor himself went through quotes for audiovisual components for the building to ensure it would fit the needs of the district. “We are partnering with Kansas City Audiovisual, and they are consulting on all of the equipment so that we guarantee it is done in a professional way.”
Going back to the emergency purpose of the building, in the event of an emergency, the shelter will hold approximately 1,200 people. Dr. Chancellor said, “In essence, it’s designed to hold the entire population of Purdy City limits.”
If all goes according to plan, construction of the FEMA building and performing arts center will be complete in September. Of the entire $4.165 million price tag, $2.3 million is a bond, FEMA is contributing $1.579 million and the remaining approximate $286,000 is the responsibility of the district. Dr. Chancellor said, “We have a couple options for the rest of the cost. We’re looking at a difference of roughly $300,000 that will come from the district. The board and I are running through scenarios, like ‘Is that a wise use of our cash?’ We are looking at all of our options so that we don’t reduce our options to be agile and flexible in the future with our funds on hand.”
At the ground breaking Tuesday, students were clearly excited about the new project happening on their campus. Dr. Chancellor shared, “What we have learned since we announced the project and have began, is that we underestimated how much this was on the kids’ minds. They think about the shelter a lot and talk about it a lot. So to see them out there, they obviously had fun watching the ground breaking because it means something to them. They see it as something that will keep them safe at school, and they are very excited about it.”
The new building on Purdy’s campus will sit adjacent to the current high school entrance. The building will face Highway C.
Charlea Estes-Jones
After a bit of a delay because of the snowy weather, Purdy Schools recently held their ground breaking for the district’s new FEMA shelter and performing arts building being built on the campus. Purdy students, faculty, the construction team and members of the community met at the site of the school’s soon-to-be shelter and new classrooms on Tuesday morning, January 30, to bring an official start to the construction.
Purdy School District began planning the new addition to the campus in 2016. The school made a bond request to the voters in their district on the August 2016 Primary ballot. The school requested $2.3 million in bond funding to help complete the $4.1 million project. Voters passed the bond, allowing the school to erect not only the FEMA shelter, but convert the space into additional much-needed classrooms and a performing arts center, as well.
Purdy Schools superintendent Dr. Steven Chancellor said it made more sense for the district to make that space multipurpose than to just build a shelter. In addition to giving students and the community a safe place to go in the event of a tornadic storm, it’ll also allow for school performances and a space to rent to the community, as well. Other additions to that structure include two preschool classrooms and a choir classroom.
Dr. Chancellor said, “Right now, we are in the groundwork phase. We will probably wrap that up in the next two weeks. Then, the tentative date for the walls to start going up is February 15. Because those walls are pre-made and delivered, we expect the shelter itself to be built within three weeks after that.”
Essentially, by the second week of March, anyone driving by the school will see that the shelter has taken shape. From there, the school’s contracting company will continue to make all of the additions and finish the inside to the school’s specifications. The construction company completing the work is R.E. Smith. The school is using Paragon Architecture for the design of the building.
Inside the performing arts part of the building, there will be raised seating for around 700 people as well as a stage. Additional seating may be brought in, as well. Dr. Chancellor said, “The seated occupancy is just under what our large gym is where we currently hold the types of events. We foresee the choir performances, band performances and plays will be in the performing arts center. We think we can do graduation, as well.” Currently, all of those events are held in the larger gymnasium.
“One thing we all agreed on: we weren’t going to skimp on the lighting and sound. The mistake a lot of schools make is they forget about the quality of what will be happening in that space. The whole building was designed to fix that problem. We don’t have a good space to do those performances in at this point. So we will have floor treatments, wall treatments and ceiling treatments to make sure we can use the performing arts center for what we need it for,” stated Dr. Chancellor.
Since the grant money from FEMA essentially builds a concrete box, anything to make the space more usable to the district is the responsibility of the school. That includes seating, floors and any audiovisual equipment.
Dr. Chancellor himself went through quotes for audiovisual components for the building to ensure it would fit the needs of the district. “We are partnering with Kansas City Audiovisual, and they are consulting on all of the equipment so that we guarantee it is done in a professional way.”
Going back to the emergency purpose of the building, in the event of an emergency, the shelter will hold approximately 1,200 people. Dr. Chancellor said, “In essence, it’s designed to hold the entire population of Purdy City limits.”
If all goes according to plan, construction of the FEMA building and performing arts center will be complete in September. Of the entire $4.165 million price tag, $2.3 million is a bond, FEMA is contributing $1.579 million and the remaining approximate $286,000 is the responsibility of the district. Dr. Chancellor said, “We have a couple options for the rest of the cost. We’re looking at a difference of roughly $300,000 that will come from the district. The board and I are running through scenarios, like ‘Is that a wise use of our cash?’ We are looking at all of our options so that we don’t reduce our options to be agile and flexible in the future with our funds on hand.”
At the ground breaking Tuesday, students were clearly excited about the new project happening on their campus. Dr. Chancellor shared, “What we have learned since we announced the project and have began, is that we underestimated how much this was on the kids’ minds. They think about the shelter a lot and talk about it a lot. So to see them out there, they obviously had fun watching the ground breaking because it means something to them. They see it as something that will keep them safe at school, and they are very excited about it.”
The new building on Purdy’s campus will sit adjacent to the current high school entrance. The building will face Highway C.