Cape Girardeau school board approves first phase of athletic complex construction

On Monday, Jan, 23, in a 5-2 vote, the Cape Girardeau Board of Education approved the first phase of construction for an athletic complex on the Central High School campus at a cost not to exceed $2.6 million.

Board members Paul Cairns and Veronica Langston voted "nay," both voicing concerns over cost and a proposed plan to complete the project in phases.

At a previous board meeting in November, members voted unanimously to authorize superintendent Neil Glass to negotiate a contract with Brockmiller Construction to build an indoor training and locker room facility at the high school.

At that meeting, preliminary plans for the new facility showed space for locker and weight training rooms, offices for coaches and an indoor turf, half the length a football field. The new facility would be built beside Central High School's stadium, in the green space east of the visitors' bleachers.

However, at Monday night's meeting, Glass said material prices have increased and therefore he felt it necessary to put forward a new plan breaking the project into phases. The first phase, he said, would cost approximately $2.1 million.

He added that Central High School's coaches made a request for the indoor field to be widened another 50 feet, increasing the width to 160 feet. Glass said, among other benefits, the increased space would allow for different sports, such as soccer and football, to safely use the space at the same time. He said, if approved, close to another $443,000 would be added to the facility's cost.

Glass presented updated construction schematics to board members for his proposed first phase of the project.

"What you see before you is, basically, an unfinished structure," Glass told the board.

He said the concrete foundation would be poured, and all water, sewer and electrical utilities would be installed, but the locker rooms and offices would be pushed to a later phase. The first phase would essentially be a "shell" of the facility, Glass said. The estimated cost, he said, including widening the indoor field, would be around $2.6 million.

"We still need to go through the bidding process, so, we hope on bidding day the numbers get a little better," Glass said. "This is our starting point. This does not finish it out, but I figure, let's start the thing, and in the next year we can budget a little more for it and we can start chipping away at it."

Langston and Cairns both expressed concerns over completing the project in phases. Cairns asked Glass for his best estimate on the total cost of the facility.

"It'll take another 2 million," Glass said. "That's my best guess."

Langston said they couldn't be sure stretching the project out over an unknown number of years would save money. She said it could end up costing more, and in the meantime the building would, essentially, be a "$5 million paperweight."

Langston asked whether the money might better be spent refurbishing the former Red Star Baptist Church building recently purchased as the new home of the Cape Central Academy. She pointed out that, earlier in the meeting, deputy superintendent of elementary education Howard Benyon presented some results of the latest Annual Performance Report (APR) showing Cape Girardeau students are below the state's average in algebra.

"In the end, how many of our kids have gone on to be professional football players, and how many of them need to know algebra?" Langston asked.

Glass responded that the purpose of the district having its own athletic complex wasn't to produce professional athletes, but to better connect the students with the school system. Benyon agreed and said it was to help keep kids in school and prevent them from dropping out. Benyon added that the district had already purchased new math curriculum in order to raise student's math scores.

Board president Matthew Welker said he could appreciate people wanting to be careful "with the dollars that are spent." He said the district's financial report showed they have the money, and that he would feel comfortable approving the whole $4.6 million to complete the facility "right now."

"But that's a big pill to swallow," Welker said. "And I feel like, doing this in phases, eases the pain of swallowing the big pill all at once."

Cairns said, ultimately, they're not going to stop at building a "shell." He advised they wait to decide on a phased approach until more information was presented.

"I think we're going to regret this," Cairns said. "In my opinion, I would love to see us come back next month and make a choice that has all the cards laid out as much as we can. I think we need to build this into a more cohesive plan. Something that says, 'Hey, we're about to get pregnant with $4.6 million.'"

After more discussion, board member Jared Ritter made a motion to approve the construction of the first phase of the athletic complex on the Central High School campus "at the cost, not to exceed the amended amount of $2.6 million." The motion was seconded and a majority voted to move forward with the first phase of the project.