By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
Renovation of the former Oak Park Medical Complex is set to start as soon as next week with demolition of some of the existing walls.
Superintendent John Thissen gave a report on the renovation project to the Hays USD 489 school board at its meeting Monday night. The report included architectural plans.
The former medical complex is being renovated for use by the Early Child Connections program. The school district purchased the property for $2 million.
Thissen said the budget needs to finalized first, which should happen any day.
The district received a $1.47 million federal grant for renovation of the complex, as well as a $500,000 donation from HaysMed, which was a primary complex property owner before it was sold. A developer has signed a $500,000 contract on Washington school building, where ECC is currently housed. The developer intends to renovate the school into low-income apartments.
In addition, the ECC program has applied for grants to pay for moving playground equipment and renovating space at the Oak Park Complex into a storm shelter. If the district receives that money, it could mean another couple hundred thousand dollars for the project. This money would be used for contingency for the project if it is received, Thissen said.
Thissen suggested using the money from the sale of the Washington property to pay down the debt for the purchase of the Oak Park Complex. This would reduce the overall interest expense for the district.
The renovation project is behind its initial time table, Thissen said. The project was delayed by the environmental site assessment. The district is under a tight schedule to complete the project. It has until June 30 to spend the federal grant money.
The district hopes to have at least three buildings in the complex open when school starts in August.
The former medical complex is made up of four buildings. One of the buildings is still in use. That portion of the complex will house the early childhood program that is now at Munjor. Thissen said that portion of the project will likely be completed last, and students may not be able to move in until later in the fall.
Because the Munjor program runs year-round, Thissen said he did not think that would be a problem.
The district plans to use as much of the existing cabinets and furnishings as possible. To maximize its budget, the district also plans to try to locate sinks and bathrooms where plumping already exists.
“One of the drivers for this was having classrooms that had space that was necessary and have some equalization from classroom to classroom,” Thissen said.
The district is still trying to work out some issues with storage, as well.