Brookings School Board considering $3 million renovation at high school

BROOKINGS A major renovation project may be on the horizon at Brookings High School Science Department.

Jason Kann and Trevor Vanconant of CO-OP Architecture outlined plans for the proposed project at last weeks Brookings School Board planning workshop.

The science rooms are in an an original part of the the high school building that has not seen much renovation over the years.

The school board listed a renovation of the science classrooms and labs as a priority earlier this year.

Members of CO-OP Architectures Sioux Falls office have received input from teachers and staff at BHS over the last few months. The architecture firm came up with a facility assessment and presented the board with three options for the project.

We spent the early part of the fall session doing some meetings with staff and administration doing some walk throughs of the rooms, kind of assessing the mechanical, electrical, architectural systems and put together a report from that, Kann said.

Kann said that the district and the architecture firm are still in the early planning part of the process and they plan to conduct another round of review meetings to work out a final plan.

Kann said the project will include a demolition of a large portion of the current classrooms and labs and start fresh.

Theres a good number of walls that will be coming down with the proposed concept to kind of create spaces that frame the new options better, Kann said.

Brooking Superintendent Summer Schultz said, We need to find more options for students to have individualized learning areas, independent study areas, collaboration areas and develop that with the technology and the flexible seating that make kids want to stay in the building when they have projects to do.

As the study progressed, Kann said, it became apparent that a pair of bathrooms should also be taken out and replaced as part to the project.

The architects provided the board with an estimate of the costs of the project. The building project would be just shy of $2.5 million. Furniture, fixtures and equipment for the area would cost over $120,000. He added that the board should expect contingencies that come up with project to come in at about $245,000. Kann said the district would also have to pay pay about $196,000 for professional services involved in the project. This puts the total cost for the project at a little over $3 million. The project will also include HVAC upgrades for the rooms.

Stacey VanBeek, director of business services of the Brookings School District, said that if the board decides to move ahead with the project, it would be financed with reserve capital outlay funds, spread out over two fiscal years.

We dont plan to borrow any money for this. This would just come out of any fund balance and wed do it over a couple years to make it work, she said

Kann and Vanconant also laid out a timeline for the project. They said that after further review with staff and the building committee over the next couple months, bids for the project should be taken in January, with the project beginning immediately following the school year.

This is too big of a scope to happen in a summer, Kann said. He said the project would be continued into the start of the next school year and students would be displaced by the project during the first part of the year while the project is being completed.

Kann said the project should be done by the end of the first quarter and the target date for completion of the project would be Nov. 20, 2026.

The presentation from CO-OP Architecture including three design options can be viewed here.