Asbestos, Water Leaks Among Problems Facing Edwards Elementary

An Ames elementary school proposed for replacement has ground water that leaks into its boiler room, a second floor music room that fails to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements and asbestos in some building materials, according to the State of the District Properties Report.

Recommended updates, repairs and expansion at Edwards Elementary School would cost $6.7 million, according to an Ames Community School District report. Voters will decide the fate of on Sept. 13 through a .

If the referendum is approved the district will build three new schools, repair two existing schools and reopen Roosevelt Elementary School. AmesPatch will post information on the condition of each school building and what the district has said it will cost to repair it leading up to the Sept. 13 election.

For Edwards, endorsement from voters means it would eventually be replaced by a new, larger school in the district.

According to school district facilities documents, Edwards Elementary opened in 1952. A 1995 addition allowed the district to move the art room from the flooding basement to the main level.  The 40,450 square-foot school currently supports two sections each for kindergarten through fifth grade.

According to a school facilities report on the state of the building ground water leaks into the boiler room, the second floor music room does not meet ADA requirements and asbestos is present in some building materials. The same document states that the roof is in good shape, the boilers were replaced about 15 years ago and the building uses window air conditioners for cooling. 

A list of recommended updates, renovations and additions would total $6.7 million, according to the Elementary Building Cost Matrix Report prepared by Gerry Peters, Ames Community School District facilities planning and management director. 

The estimated cost includes, asbestos and lead paint abatement, upgrades to windows and doors, interior remodeling, plumbing, heating and ventilation updates and more. It also includes adding a 3,000-square-foot cafe and commons area, upgrading and expanding the media center and the gymnasium.

Under the proposal before voters, the school would be replaced by a new building on the district's Miller Avenue property. StruXture Architects recommended building a new $12 million three-section school to serve residents on the Miller Avenue site, saying that the Edwards site couldn't support a three-section building.

The Sept. 13 ballot question follows below:

Shall the Board of Directors of the Ames Community School District in the County of Story, State of Iowa, be authorized to contract indebtedness and issue General Obligation Bonds in an amount not to exceed $65,000,000 to provide funds to build, furnish, and equip elementary school buildings and improve the sites therefore (including demolition) at the District property on 24^th Street, the current Meeker Elementary site, and District property on Miller Avenue; and to reconstruct, repair, improve, remodel, furnish and equip the Mitchell, Roosevelt and Sawyer elementary buildings and sites?  

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