Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, June 17, 1995 TAG: 9506200035
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The size of the gym apparently will be dictated by money rather than the projected numbers of spectators or passion for basketball.
The school won't get a 4,000-seat gym, as some boosters had hoped, to accommodate large crowds for big games. Nor will it get 3,000 seats, which would make it one of the largest high school gymnasiums in the region.
It might have 2,240 seats - if the county Board of Supervisors provides more money for the project.
That would be about the same size as gyms at Salem High School and Pulaski County High School.
The problem is money.
The School Board has a $3.3 million budget for the gymnasium, a 350-seat auditorium and four classrooms, to be built near Northside Middle School. The high school team will use the gym for practice and play its games there.
Architects said the budgeted money will finance the auditorium, classrooms and a gym that seats 800 to 1,000.
Without more money or deletion of the auditorium or classrooms, or both, a larger gymnasium is not possible, they said.
The project is being financed through the Virginia Public School Authority. The Board of Supervisors could seek additional bond money, but that, of course, would mean higher debt payments.
When school officials began planning the project two or three years ago, the cost estimate seemed accurate. But construction costs for high school gyms have increased 30 percent in the past 18 months.
Architect Ben Motley said recent bids on gyms at two schools in Augusta County, similar in design to the Northside project, were nearly one-third higher than those on other gyms less than two years ago.
"The construction market has become very volatile," said Motley, president of Motley & Associates, the Roanoke architects for the project.
A 2,240-seat gymnasium, with the auditorium and classrooms, would cost $4.75 million, he said. A 1,600-seat facility would cost $4.08 million.
"It's not pleasant to have to tell you this," Motley told school administrators, Northside boosters and parents at a meeting Thursday. "But if we are right, the magnitude of the problem is significant."
Architect Mark McConnel said one option would be to reduce the size of the auditorium and classrooms or delete them from the project. But that is a decision for school officials.
Deleting the classrooms would save $250,000, McConnel said.
School Board member Jerry Canada said there would be no point in building a new gym with only 800 to 1,000 seats, because it would be no larger than the current one.
Canada said he believes the gymnasium should take priority over the auditorium and classrooms.
"The original intent was to build a new gym. That was the reason for the project," Canada said. The auditorium and classrooms were added to the plans.
Northside boosters and parents in the planning group said they want a gym with at least 2,000 to 2,300 seats. School officials should seek more money from the supervisors, they said.
Basketball coach Bill Pope said a 2,240-seat gym is more reasonable than a 4,000-seat facility. But he said he hopes the plans don't have to be trimmed dramatically.
"I hope we don't have to turn anyone away at games," he said. "Seating for big games should be in the neighborhood of 2,000."
Superintendent Deanna Gordon suggested the project could be designed and bid with alternatives so some parts could be deleted, depending on the bids and available funds.
"You can proceed on with the plans and let us decide if we want to do it as alternatives or in phases," Gordon told the architects. "Mr. Canada and I have to go and find more money."
Allen Journell, Northside's incoming principal, said he would rather wait on a new gym than build one that is too small.
Homer Duff, director of facilities and operations for county schools, said the funding issue will be considered by the school system's construction committee and the School Board.
In the meantime, the architects will develop plans for a gym with seating in the range of 2,000 to 2,300, Duff said. And he has asked the Northside boosters to back the effort to get more money for the project.
"We enlist your support and help in any way that you can," he said. "We will need it."
by CNB