ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, July 24, 1996 TAG: 9607240046
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
Children and parents hugged one another in joy Tuesday after the Roanoke County Board of Supervisors voted to provide the money to renovate Fort Lewis Elementary School.
"We got our school," said School Board member Marion Roark as she joined the Fort Lewis residents in celebrating the end of the long battle for the renovation. "This project is so badly needed. We're just so overjoyed.''
A few minutes after the vote, Superintendent Deanna Gordon made a phone call to notify the contractor to begin work on the project that has been discussed nearly a decade.
The School Board took bids this summer and got a 30-day extension of them so it could seek an additional $1.2 million from the supervisors because the low bid was higher than the estimate.
Gordon made the call to the low bidder - Acorn Construction Co. of Roanoke - shortly before the extension expired at 5 p.m. Tuesday. Work on the project can begin in the next few days, she said.
Principal Gaye Sigmon said Fort Lewis will get a gymnasium, a cafeteria and kitchen, four more classrooms and other improvements, in addition to the renovation of the existing classrooms.
"We're so happy, we'll find a way to accommodate the renovation and keep the school open while the work is being done," Sigmon said.
The supervisors approved the additional money for Fort Lewis on a 3-2 vote with Chairman Bob Johnson casting the deciding ballot.
The project was estimated to cost $1.3 million, but the low bid was nearly $2 million. Kitchen equipment, furnishings and other items pushed the cost to nearly $2.5 million.
"I vote 'yes' for the needs of the children," Johnson said. "It's time to get on with this project."
Johnson said he shared some of the concerns of Supervisors Lee Eddy and Harry Nickens, who cast dissenting votes, but he saw no reason to delay.
"If we're going to do it, we may as well do it now," Johnson said. "Our problems don't stop here. We will have many other projects to do [when a pending study of all school needs is finished]."
The supervisors also provided an additional $500,000 for air conditioning at Cave Spring Junior High and an additional $455,000 for a 22-room addition at William Byrd High.
The money for all three projects was approved in one motion despite Eddy's desire that the supervisors vote on them separately.
Eddy said he favored proceeding with the Fort Lewis renovation with some modifications in the plans.
"I think there is a desperate need for the Fort Lewis renovation, but I am not prepared to vote for the money for the other two projects," he said. Eddy said he voted against the funds for all three projects because the supervisors linked them together.
By providing money for the projects, Nickens said the supervisors are restricting the options for a residents' committee that has begun a study of the needs for improvements at all schools.
During the past three months, the supervisors have approved $7.5 million for school improvements that could have been available to the study committee in deciding on its recommendations, Nickens said.
"We're reducing the amount of money that will be available, and we're tying one arm of the committee behind its back," Nickens said.
The Fort Lewis and William Byrd projects were planned before the defeat of a $37.4 million school bond issue in April for a new Cave Spring High School and several other projects. Neither project was included in the bond issue because the county had obtained state Literary Fund loans to help pay for them.
Don Terp, a leading opponent of the bond issue and a frequent critic of county government, thanked the supervisors for approving the money for Fort Lewis.
"These people have been jerked around long enough," Terp said. "To have this resolved is a blessing.''
Lela Spitz, a civic leader in the western part of the county, also commended the supervisors for providing the money.
Architects have estimated that half of the cost increase for the Fort Lewis renovation is the result of inflation since the original estimate was made several years ago. The rest was caused by an expansion of the project's scope.
The supervisors will dip into unspent funds for architectural and engineering fees for the proposed new Cave Spring High School to help cover the additional costs for the Fort Lewis, William Byrd and Cave Spring Junior projects.
While school officials didn't object to using the money that had been earmarked for the new Cave Spring High, Gordon said they were not necessarily discarding the idea of a new high school.
Johnson said the decision to use the money for other projects shouldn't be interpreted to mean that the supervisors are abandoning the possibility of a new high school. "We are awaiting the committee's report."
The committee, which is working with consultants to review the school needs, will rank the projects in priority in preparation for another possible bond issue referendum, which would not be held until next year at the earliest.
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