Board to spend up to $675K on renovations to old high school

The Ashdown School Board agreed to spend no more than $675,000 to renovate the former high school building and use it for school district administration offices.

In the meeting Tuesday, the board approved a plan to renovate the former high school and change it into an administration office building and continue to use it for public events such as pageants and shows in the auditorium.

The construction should start by July 11 and the renovation should be completed within five months.

The 39,000-square-foot facility was not adequate for academic use because of state standards, but the building can be renovated and used for administrative space.

The district has two administrative offices-one with space for the superintendent and another for support services staff.

Ashdown School Superintendent Jason Sanders said it's costly to maintain
all three buildings, and the district will save thousands of dollars per year by consolidating them.

The school district patrons were concerned about the use of the former high school and misconceptions that developed, Ashdown School Board President Chuck Davis said.

"We never intended to demolish the building. A lot of people never heard the truth. We never ever intended to tear down the building," Davis said. "It's a good solid building."

Richard Johnson, director of business development for C.R. Crawford Construction of Fayetteville, Ark., agreed the building is a sound building. He attended the meeting Tuesday and will supervise the construction.

The sidewalks surrounding the campus have the names of the school graduates and the year they graduated.

Davis said the sidewalks are sacred and should be protected.

The renovations will also include making sure the building meets fire codes and other construction standards for school district buildings, said Craig Boone, president of Architecture Plus of Fort Smith, Ark. The company will be the project architect.

Boone and Davis attended the school board meeting.

Sanders said the renovations will include upgrades for lighting, flooring, walls, storage and technology.

"Someone pointed out if something major happened at the high school or junior high, the superintendent will be
on the high school campus and can be on the junior high campus within minutes," Sanders said.

"This will be a more efficient, very professional place of business for the district to have more room for those who want to attend board meetings. Local community groups also need a nice professional place for meetings. This gives us the ability to do that," he said.

The high school building was built in 1954 and used until 2008 when the new high school opened. Since then it's been used for classroom space, and the attached auditorium is used by the community for pageants and other special events.

The current administration buildings could be sold to local businesses for office or business space, with the revenue from those sales reinvested in the district's general fund to pay the non-bonded debt.

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