Price Tag Increases For Lawrenceburg Schools Renovation Project

Thursday, July 16, 2020 at 10:44 AM

The need for additional renovations and upgrades have been discovered.

(Lawrenceburg, Ind.) – Additional upgrades will drive up the cost of the Lawrenceburg Schools renovation project.

Last October, the Lawrenceburg Community School Corporation Board of School Trustees voted to pass the adoption of preliminary determinations to move forward with over $22 million in renovations at Lawrenceburg High School, Greendale Middle School, Central Elementary School and Lawrenceburg Primary School.

At a special school board meeting on Wednesday, Superintendent Karl Galey announced that the estimated cost for the renovation project will be higher than originally projected.

This comes after more specific needs were found by mechanical, electrical, plumbing and HVAC contractors following an in-depth review and investigation of a General Education Study that was conducted in 2018.

Those more specific needs include boiler replacement, fire suppression, HVAC control updates, lighting, and auto door access to other parts of the building.

The estimated cost of the high school renovations will increase approximately $7.2 million. The primary school and elementary school projects will also see a slight increase in cost, bringing the overall cost of the entire project to $31.5 million.

“Although the total project costs have increased for the Primary School Project and Central Elementary School Project and the High School Project, the required maximum financial terms, including the tax rate impact, in the authorizing resolutions are still able to be met at this time," said Galey.

The estimated maximum tax rate stands at $0.3210. The estimated maximum tax rate stands at $0.3210. For a home valued at $100, the estimated tax increase would be $2.93. The tax increase goes as high as $8.74 for homes over $200,000.

Terry Lancer, the architect of the project, stated that "most of the current equipment is long past due to be replaced with energy efficient equipment that will save the school corporation money in the long run."

These additions would be made on top of an almost complete renovation of the academic area of the high school.

The high school renovation project will include updates to science, math, language arts, social studies, and art classrooms, in addition to computer labs and other specialty areas such as band and choir and JAG programs.

Bidding for the project is expected to happen in early 2021.

The actual work is expected to last approximately two years and will be done in phases considering the building will be occupied during the bulk of the work.