Board members received updates on several capital projects and on plans to seek state and federal funding for new early-learning space.

Speaker 4 said the architecture/engineering firm is under contract for the Douglas renovation and that work should pick up in early spring after approvals from the Department of Engineering and Building. He also reported the Genius Adams Education Pavilion platform has been poured and the project is waiting on stairs and final concrete pours.

On the Waynesboro project, Speaker 4 said the team is finishing preliminary design with Homes and Riggs War Design, that the Department of Engineering and Building requested scope adjustments (including pulling back metallic panels) to bring the design in line with state preferences and funding limits, and that the design has moved from a high-level scheme to more detailed finishes.

Speaker 4 described a separate renovation proposal to create an early-explorer early-childhood learning center out of existing library space. He put the estimated project cost at "roughly $2,000,000," said the department worked with the Department of Planning and Budget and the Secretary of Education on the request, and noted the museum will not know the outcome until the governor's budget is released in December. "This is stuff we won't hear about till the governor's budget comes out in December," Speaker 4 said.

Separately, Speaker 5 reported a previous congressionally directed spending request for the Young Explorer Center of about $640,000 that was well received but not funded; staff plan to resubmit in FebruaryMarch 2025 with modifications as needed.

Next steps: staff will continue design work, pursue state and federal funding pathways, and return to the board once the governor's budget or grant decisions provide clarity.