CHILLICOTHE - The "more exciting" aspect of the Chillicothe City Schools' elementary campus construction projects should be beginning soon, the district's Board of Education learned Monday evening.
That is the point where the construction sites are transformed from flat landscapes of dirt to visible outlines of structures to the start of the structures themselves.
"When I left (one of the work sites Monday) afternoon, we had started to put down the limestone at the (grades) 3-6 site, so you can start seeing an outline of those (classroom) wings," said Superintendent Jon Saxton. "You can see the outline of the K-2 building easily now, you can see where the classroom wings are going to be. They start with the limestone and they'll get that base packed and they'll form up the footers and pour the foundations."
The footers are expected to be set in the next couple of weeks with the hope that foundation walls could be going up in the next month or so.
The board did have to approve a $120,000 change order Monday regarding achieving the proper soil compaction in preparation for the foundation at the K-2 site. Board President Steve Mullins said such orders are part of the construction process as issues arise that could not be anticipated prior to the start of the work.
Saxton said he understands that neighbors of the two projects in the areas of Arch and Cherry streets may be inconvenienced by some of the dust the work has kicked up, but that the dry weather has been a positive for keeping the efforts on schedule — a critical component of the effort to get the buildings ready for use as soon as possible going into the 2018-19 school year.
The superintendent noted that all work at the Obadiah Harris Athletic Complex has been completed and that the relocation of the former Hopewell playground equipment closer to Mt. Logan Elementary is set to begin, as is expansion of parking at that school.
"It won't be so far away, so hard to manage when kids and teachers don't have to spend half their recess just walking out to the playground," he said.
In other action Monday:
The board, which officially sanctioned girls lacrosse as a varsity sport this year after eight years as a club sport, heard from Coach Ryan Camponeschi that it was a year of firsts for the program. Among them was it being the first year there were enough girls participating, 31, to field both a varsity and junior varsity program. It also was the first year the team had a winning record, and Camponeschi said coaches are working on several ways to build interest in the sport going down into the middle school level with such things as a summer lacrosse camp.
The board learned from Mary Montgomery that thus far the inaugural summer of Babe the Big Blue Bus — the district's school bus converted into a mobile summer meals site — has served 1,614 lunches and that Montgomery is continuing to try finding ways to expand the number of students taking advantage of the free lunch program. A recent stop at Danbarry Cinemas, for instance, resulted in 55 children receiving the lunches, up from an average of 15 to 20 at most stops.
- Chris Balusik, Chillicothe Gazette