New football concession stand/bathrooms project in limbo
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By Carmen Ensinger
The only thing for certain about the new North Greene football concession stand and bathroom project is that it is going to be very costly to construct.
“The contractor wasn’t comfortable giving me any sort of proposal with figures because he is not sure what our overall intention is,” North Greene Superintendent Jackie Kuchy said at the July 17 school board meeting. “What he did do is give me a list of comparable projects which I thought was kind of eye opening. Just the difference in the cost of square footing of the projects since 2020 until now is alarming.”
The first project was a 750 square foot concession stand in Redbud. In 2020, the estimate to build it came in at $350,000. Today, to build that same concession stand will cost $375,000.
On a larger scale, one school district was looking at building a 6,200 square foot welding lab. This would be a metal frame building. Just for the metal building itself, not finishing it out or anything, in 2020 the building would have cost $550,000. Today that same building would cost $825,000.
What the district was interested in was a combination concession stand/restroom/team room combination in the area of around 2,200 feet.
“The contractor did mention that if we had people who are willing to donate labor that that could be taken into consideration,” Kuchy said. “But that had to be determined up front before the proposal was entered into. For example, if you have a plumber willing to donate his services, but you still have to pay for the materials, we have to have all those pieces going into it.”
Board member Chris Ford said he had spoken with several individuals in the area who have said they would be more than willing to donate their services to help the district with the project.
The building they are considering would be a metal structure 60x104x12 and would include a concession area, restrooms, locker rooms and a storage area.
The district is returning to self-op after being with a food service management company for the past two years and Kuchy said they are finding it hard to adjust to inflation after being out of the game for two years.
“We are a little unsure about the costs to associate with the a la carte entrees,” Kuchy said. “They are getting ready to do their first order and we are just trying to get a feel for what we think is going to be a reasonable price.”
Costs have risen dramatically since the last time the district served their own meals. On top of the cost of food, the wages and insurance of employees must also be taken into consideration – something that was taken care of by the food service management company for the past two years.
“We are still unsure what our costs are going to look like,” Kuchy said. “It is certainly not going to be like what we were paying, but we don’t want to pigeonhole ourselves into something. The cost of food is substantially higher than when we went with the food service management company. As soon as I get it finalized I will share it with you.”
The board wanted to clarify a post that was made on social media about donating class pictures and sports banners to the North Greene Boosters auction that was this past Saturday at Hunter’s Horn.
“I guess we were concerned that we didn’t exactly handle this right because our post caused a sort of brouhaha,” Kuchy said. “These class photos have all been digitized and both them and the banners have not been on display nor stored properly for years. We are trying to make use of this building (Unit Office) again and we need to determine what we are doing with all of these items.”
There were numerous class group photos that once graced the halls of North Greene High School as well as banners that once hung in the gym of the grade school that were up for auction at the event.
The North Greene Boosters are a very worthwhile organization that raises money to help many different things at North Greene.
Kuchy said she intends to send a letter of intent to apply for a grant for the 21st Century Learning Center, which is a before or after school learning program.
“When we look at the priority points, we definitely do have some that would qualify us,” she said. “I’m not going to say we are a shoe in for it, but we still do qualify and we are planning to submit a proposal. We have never had a grant like this before so we are going to throw our name in the hat.”
Kuchy said the Greene County Health Department is paying for the installation of telehealth equipment in each of the buildings in the district, including the Unit Office.
“This equipment will be available to all of the community,” she said. “They will be coming next week to install that.
Kuchy also said that safety is one of the district’s primary focuses right now.
“A while back we did have a company come in and talk to us about a panic button installation and investing in some Navigation 360 and Alice Training,” she said. “We want our students and staff to feel safe and prepared if we were to encounter some sort of emergency. These are costly endeavors, but we can’t put a price on safety. We are exploring all of these options to hopefully improve our security at the buildings. Right now we are just exploring what this would take.”
