Representatives of the Florence-Penrose School District, accompanied by members of iiCon Construction and CSNA Architects, officially broke ground Thursday on several major building projects that are expected to commence this week.
The groundbreaking took place at the Florence Junior Senior High School and Fremont Elementary School as each is expected to have major renovations and buildings added to the facilities soon.
"This is really an exciting day for us," Superintendent Brenda Krage said. "(These) projects have at least been four to five years in the making. There have been a lot of people contributing to it ... this is really exciting."
In November, Florence and Penrose's residents approved Ballot Issue 5A, which passed by an unofficial election result of 3,124 for and 2,020 against a proposed mill levy.
According to Krage, the bond from 2006 was scheduled to sunset in 2023 and Florence and Penrose voters stepped up to roll the levy forward into 2023 with the same mill levy provided an estimated $25 million to address the identified facility needs. It did not increase taxes, and it will allow the community to continue assessing the same tax.
The school district projects are as follows:
- Penrose Elementary School: security and safety improvements at the front entrance and interior classrooms, and an ADA ramp into the cafeteria and gymnasium for improved access
- Fremont Elementary School: security and safety improvements at the front entrance, a new attached multi-purpose cafeteria, and new parent/bus drop-off/pick-up areas
- Florence Jr/Sr High School: security and safety improvements at the front entrance, an additional auxiliary gym/locker rooms, and instructional space improvements to expand career and technical education learning areas
The three projects were identified from community and staff input during the past two years. Highlights of the projects are improved safety and security features at all three schools, expanded learning environments for students and they are also addressing the need for adequate and reasonable practice and play time for both boys' and girls' athletics.
According to Krage, construction is slated to begin on the projects at both Florence Junior Senior High School and Penrose Elementary this week. Krage and the rest of the district are hopeful that the PES project will be nearing completion by the time school starts this fall and the other projects, including the high school gym and CTE learning areas, as well as the Fremont Elementary cafeteria, will likely be completed in the fall of 2024.
On March 8, 2022, the projects were discussed in finer detail by the architects, district, and builders for the expansive project.
Tom Lysne of CSNA Architects detailed the ideas for the existing Florence Junior/Senior High School, which consists of a new gymnasium and a career and tech building. The 20,000 square-foot potential gym would be built on the east side of the existing high school complete with two basketball courts, bleachers for 150 people on one side, locker rooms, and a weight room and fitness center over the locker rooms. The gymnasium would be for potential use by both high-school and middle-school students.
Lysne also discussed the proposed CTE building. At that time, it would be a stand-alone building that could include areas for welding, machining, carpentry, building tracks, and a designated area for a student storefront, where students could sell school paraphernalia.
Kristen Buckland of CSNA Architects presented the plans for Fremont Elementary School. Two primary issues were identified — bus and parent drop-off zones and cafeteria location. At that time, the proposed plan would include building a new cafeteria at the rear of the school with some outdoor dining space and a corridor that connects it to the rest of the school. They also hope to increase the size of the cafeteria by three or four tables.
Buckland then detailed the congestion that occurs at the currently-mingled drop-off zone between buses and parents. The proposed fix for this issue would include completely separate drop-off zones for both parents and buses — buses would occupy the existing loop at the front of the school and a new road would be cut down the side and around the back of the track of the school for a new parent drop-off zone. Kids dropped off by parents would then enter the school through the new cafeteria entrance whilst the bussed kids would enter through the existing front doors.
Buckland also detailed the hope for a designated preschool drop-off area, where parents could comfortably escort their young children inside the building.
Lysne discussed some additions to Penrose Elementary School. The primary focus would be on safety and security. Currently, the classrooms cannot be locked down in case of an active shooter or some other emergency and the potential changes would include new security measures for each classroom, as well as the front entrance. Additionally, they hope to build some accessibility improvements.
Krage also said that they are hopeful to conduct official ribbon cuttings and openings for the remaining projects in 2024.
"I want to really thank everybody for their contribution to this, it's a really big deal for our community," Krage said. "Our community itself really deserves a very large thank you."
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