Construction of new Pleasant View Elementary delayed by bond market

Leanard Bowers, an architect with Ross Tarrant Architects, shows a scaled down version of the new Pleasant View Elementary School to Whitley County School Board members last week.

The Whitley County Board of Education is still planning to build a new Pleasant View Elementary School but construction won’t start as soon as expected and the building is going to be smaller than originally planned.

Leonard Bowers, a principal architect at Ross Tarrant Architects, told the board of education during a special called meeting Thursday that its bonding potential for the project has dropped about $1 million lower than expected.

Superintendent Scott Paul noted this was caused by an unanticipated change in the bond market.

As a result, the actual construction budget is dropping from about $9.5 million to $8,556,500.

The sale of revenue bonds is how most government agencies fund building projects. It is similar to a home mortgage for private property owners.

As a result of the change, the project won’t be bid this month but instead on Nov. 26.

The size of the building has been scaled back from 52,000 square feet to 45,900 square feet.

Two classrooms, which would have been used as a science classroom and a computer classroom, are being cut from the project. The gym will be slightly smaller than planned.

District maintenance workers will build and install some cabinets for the new building rather than bidding the work out, and maintenance staff will also install some things, such as tile, in order to save on the project.

"We worked real hard to squeeze down the plans," Bowers noted.

Even with the changes, Bowers said that the project is still seeking an Energy Star rating.

The new building will have 14 regular classrooms and is being built to house 350 students plus preschoolers. There are currently 254 students plus preschoolers in the existing school.

Officials hope to start construction in December and have the new school open at the start of the 2015 school year.

During its meeting Thursday, the board approved the revised design plans for the school.

In addition, the board voted to spend $12,500 to purchase 0.5 acres of land off US25W, which will be used for the entrance to the new school.

The entrance for the existing school is off Stringtown Road, which is relatively narrow.

In addition, the board approved a resolution to use 90 percent of their capital outlay funds for the construction project.

Paul said that the Kentucky Department of Education normally allows districts to issue bonds against 80 percent of their capital outlay funds.

The board’s resolution simply allows the district to borrow additional money in lieu of 90 percent of those funds, which means the district will have roughly $575,000 more in bonding potential for the project.