In August, voters in the Fort Supply school district will get an opportunity to help rebuild the school’s gymnasium.
A two-part school bond issue is being proposed for the district. The first is $1.5 million that will go toward school improvements, such as rebuilding the gym and updating the playground equipment. Also voters will decide if $75,000 can be given out for transportation equipment at the school.
The gym was destroyed when the roof collapsed as a result of the 20-plus inch snow storm in late March.
Superintendent Pat Howell said that with the passage of the bond issue Fort Supply’s gym will be better than the previous one.
“Taxpayers will be able to save a lot of money while still helping the school because of our insurance company and the wind turbine industry in the district will shoulder about 70 percent of the cost,” Howell said.
For every $100 spent on the project, if the bond issue passes, $32 will be paid for by taxpayers. The remaining $68 will be paid for by Edison Mission Energy.
Howell said that the energy company has also provided funds for the renovations that are being done to Fort Supply’s old gym, which will be used next year for basketball games and other activities.
“They are really helping us out and being a part of the community,” he said.
New gyms have cost in the neighborhood of $3 million in recent years. Mooreland’s new gym and multi-purpose building cost $2.9 million and was financed through a bond issue.
The new Ward Center completed earlier this year in Seiling was built by a $3 million donation from Tom Ward and family. The community also passed a bond issue to furnish the building and for parking and other amenities.
With the average cost of a new gym being about $3 million, for tax payers to put up less than half the money is a bargain.
“We can get so much for our students without having to spend as much,” Howell said.
Although rebuilding the gym will take up most of the funds, upgrading the playground equipment at the school is also a priority.
Howell said that a group of parents started a fund to try and buy new playground equipment, but the cost has been too much. Meanwhile, the playground equipment has continued to get older.
“I played on some of it when I was a boy here,” Howell said.
Funds will go to replace some of the outdated equipment and also provide safety mats underneath.
The transportation funds in the bond issue will be used to replace a school bus and some of the school suburbans along with the FFA pick-up truck and the all-purpose vehicle that the school has.
“So far people have been positive toward the bond issue,” Howell said. “We feel like the community is very supportive of their kids and they trust us to be frugal with their money.”
