Iowa Valley renovations race school start date

MARENGO — The Iowa Valley school board met in a stripped boardroom July 17 as renovations continued in the junior-senior high school building.

The auditorium is “pretty much done,” said Iowa Valley Superintendent Curt Rheingans during the board meeting. The old radiators will remain in place, but inoperable, because of the cost to remove them.

Other areas of the school were scheduled for deep cleaning this week, and new flooring will be installed next week, Rheingans said.

“They’re painting the drywall as week speak.”

Though the building’s interior looked chaotic, it changes day by day, Rheingans said. “We will be ready for kids Aug. [23].”

The District can push the start of school to Aug. 26 and give contractors an extra weekend if they need it, Rheingans said.

“We need the fire marshal’s grace before we can bring kids back in.”

Finishing work could continue into October, Rheingans said.

Following the meeting, Rheingans led a tour of the building, which still showed studs in some places. The counselor’s office and nurse’s office will take the place of the former administrative offices, and administrative offices will move to the front of the building.

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The art room has moved, and its former space will become a classroom for industrial arts, increasing the industrial arts work space.

The FFA and ag room has been expanded with the removal of office and storage-room walls. “It was pretty tight quarters in here,” said Rheingans. “She has a lot of kids.”

Rheingans said the renovation was a five-year project that the district has condensed into two. Smaller improvement, such as new banisters on the stairs, can be added later.

On the second floor, classrooms are being painted, and ceilings are being readied for new lights.

The cafeteria will have new flooring and a dropped ceiling. “It’ll be better,” said Rheingans, but with 100 students in the space, it doesn’t matter what kind of ceiling you put in, said Rheingans. “It’s gonna be loud.”

The board agreed this month to remove and replace windows in three additional areas of the school, including a narrow one at the front of the building. “How it got overlooked, I don’t know,” said Rheingans.

The board also approved a change order for S and S Construction for $20,500 to move the condenser units to the ground. Due to cost and maintenance issues, “It just made sense that we put them on the ground,” said Rheingans.

Voters approved the $10.6 million bond referendum to pay for the renovations to the school in 2022. The bond issue needed 60% to pass; 73% of voters approved the measure.

The cost of the roof alone was $2.1 million, Rheingans said