Meeker Elementary To Be Replaced If Bond Passes

Water leaks in  School's basement, like in most   buildings.

In fact water rises as much as four feet deep in the boiler room of the 60-year-old building, according to a State of the District Properties Report presented to the board in November. The media center and the auditorium fail to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements. Asbestos is present in some building materials and lead paint probably is too, the report said.

Voters will be asked if they would support a $65 million bond referendum to build three new schools, repair two existing schools and reopen Roosevelt Elementary School on Sept. 13. 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.

Meeker would be replaced by a new school if voters say "yes."

Meeker, a three-section elementary school, was built in 1951 and has had three additions since. The latest came in 1975.

According to the facilities report, its sloped roof is in good shape, its kitchen is crowded and mobile equipment is used in a hallway. A unit was placed outside the 53,000 square-foot building this fall because of an unusually high kindergarten enrollment.

Renovations and additions to the building including adding a commons cafe and upgrading the gymnasium and media center would cost $8.8 million but that estimate does not include design fees, according to the District's elementary cost matrix.

StruXture Architects recommended building a new school on the same property for $12.8 million or renovating the current building for $10.3 million. 

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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