Renovation continues at Iowa Valley

MARENGO — The Iowa Valley School Board approved contracts with several contractors last week as it continues renovation of district facilities this summer.

Most of the improvements will be paid for using the bonds voters approved in March of 2023, but Secure an Advanced Vision for Education, Physical Plant and Equipment Levy and Public Education and Recreation Levy funds will be used for the baseball and softball awnings and fall surfacing.

The school board approved a $36,500 bid for concrete for the approach to the bus barn. The district had intended to pave the entire area but need to wait for the city to finish concrete work on the street first, said District Superintendent Curt Rheingans.

The rest of the concrete for the bus barn will probably be completed next summer, Rheingans said.

The board approved a flooring contract for $74,128 with Poindexter Flooring out of Des Moines. “That is pretty much our junior high section,” said Rheingans. The new flooring will be consistent with what was put down last year.

“It’s going to look like the science room,” Rheingans said.

The board approved a contract with Liberty Doors for $92,660 for new interior doors in the high school music rooms and gymnasium and doors in the elementary school.

That will complete replacement of nearly all of the doors in the two school buildings, Rheingans said.

Timm Electric won the bid for electrical work. The $15,000 contract will upgrade electrical infrastructure in six rooms in the elementary school, in the high school music room and in the elementary school lounge.

“Kind of what we did last year,” said Rheingans. It will give each room more than two outlets.

The board approved a contract for music room cabinets and chairs from Premier for $31,605. The cabinets are “specific to all the instruments we have,” said Rheingans.

The music teachers decided what kind of cabinets they needed, Rheingans said. The new chairs will give proper posture to the musicians.

Stage lighting for the auditorium will cost up to $35,000. The money for the lighting comes from a donation from an estate.

Stage flooring will cost the district $8,980. The old wood flooring didn’t absorb sound as it should, said Rheingans.

The dance studio helped pick out the flooring, which can be rolled out for musicals and can be rolled back up when it’s not needed said Rheingans.

Flooring for three elementary school classrooms, the nurse’s office and lounge and faculty bathroom will cost $37,223. The school district awarded the contract to SCS Flooring Company out of Homestead.

The flooring will be epoxy, the same as the cafeterias have, said Rheingans.

“It’s held up well in the cafeteria,” said elementary school principal Liesl Yunek. Teachers have asked for the same floors in their classrooms, she said.

SCS will put in the same type of flooring in the concession area at a cost of $7,185.

The district paid $75,000 for HVAC control updates for the gym and locker areas, said Rheingans. S & S Plumbing and Heating took care of the installation.

“We needed it done,” said Rheingans. The locker rooms are ice cold in the winter because the old HVAC system wasn’t compatible with the new system, he said.

The school board approved the project which had already been completed at the time of the vote.