MSD Wabash County Schools reviews Southwood and high school renovation plans, phasing and costs

Presenters from Barton Co. and Ygrene outlined schematic designs, construction phasing and preliminary budgets for Southwood Elementary School and the district high school at a MSD Wabash County Schools work session. The presentation described classroom reconfigurations, a west-side cafeteria addition at Southwood that would serve as temporary classroom space during renovation, a north athletics/field-house addition and west Career & Technical Education (CTE) expansion at the high school, and site logistics intended to keep students and busing separate from construction traffic.

Why it matters: the projects would reconfigure instructional space, expand athletic and CTE facilities and require extended on-site construction (roughly two years for the elementary project), temporary traffic changes and additional site work that will affect parking, practice areas and stormwater infrastructure. The district and contractors said they need final phasing and a budget alignment before moving into detailed design and bidding.

Brian Bollander, a presenter from Barton Co., said, “We are just moving out of what we call schematic design phase, moving into design development phase,” and gave a room-by-room description of the Southwood Elementary work. At Southwood, the plan calls for three tiers of work: finish updates (heating, cooling and finishes), larger renovations (classroom reconfiguration and new restroom/cool-down space for the RISE program) and a proposed west addition. The gym would expand into the current dining area to create an almost regulation-size floor and the new west addition would house a new dining/serving area, dish room, storage, staff dining and restrooms and a conference…