The USD 383 Board of Education approved the relocation of the south side College Hill Early Learning Center playground with construction starting Sept. 5 and be finished some time in January 2024.
The current playground equipment will be moved from the south side of the building to the north side of the building for safety reasons.
The district received one bid from BHS Construction for $565,821, which includes the base bid, a 7 percent contingency and two alternatives.
The district does not expect these construction dates to cause a problem because the school has multiple playgrounds. Children will still be able to play outside while the construction takes place.
“Theoretically, they have three playgrounds,” Construction Manager Trisha Brooke-Fruendt said. “They have one for the infant-toddlers and then they have two identical playgrounds — one on the south side and one on the north side. So the north side playground with the exception of a few pieces of equipment will still be intact.”
The north side playground will have a six foot fence around it during construction, she said.
“They’re going to have limited play equipment for a while, because everything that’s on that south side with the exception of the infant-toddler (playground) which is it’s own fenced off area, is the only thing staying on that south side,” she said. “Everything that’s on the rest of that southern side is moving to the north side and it will create two separate playgrounds on that north side.”
Board member Brandy Santos said she had concerns over the price for the playground relocation.
“I thought it was a little more than what we estimated it to be,” she said. “I think if we put it off, there is the potential for it actually to be more. Even though there’s potential for it to be less and savings, but I don’t think we can really put at $200,000 price tag on a child’s life and it really is about the safety of the children. And so I am in full support of this because it really does provide that safety that we have all wanted for our children, to be in the back of the school rather than the front.”
The reason the price came in higher than expected is related to the property the district purchased to place the relocated playground equipment on, according to Superintendent Eric Reid.
“Some of it is the property we acquired — what’s underneath the ground that we have to take care of,” he said.
Some complications have also arisen with moving some of the equipment, he said.
“The swings were actually more cost-effective for us to purchase new swings and put them in or to cut them off and anchor them down along the way,” Reid said. “So that wasn’t something we were expecting or anticipating along the way as well as some of the ADA action.”
The new location for the playground sits low enough that the district will have to install ramps and connection pieces to ensure students with disabilities can still access the playground equipment.
Because some residents in neighboring houses expressed a desire to maintain their privacy when the playground moves, there will also be some construction costs associated with that, Reid said. He said the costs associated with maintaining residents’ privacy were relatively small compared to the rest of the expenses connected with the project — less than five figures — but they still added to the total cost of the relocation.
He said he was in favor of the move for safety reasons.
“I don’t think I want to operate that playground on Kimball (Avenue) knowing that we’ve got a better option,” Reid said.
Representatives from BHS Construction also updated the board about further construction in the district, including recently completed projects.
Reid talked about the completed construction at Manhattan High School.
He said an open house was planned for the public to come in and see the progress at MHS from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Aug. 5.
“Not anything formal,” Reid said. “Just a come-and-go opportunity and we’re going to pair that with a job recruitment fair.”
