SCHOOL PLANNING
• Ross Wentworth, architect, talks to the Juab
School Board about plans for remodeling and
construction of schools in our district.
By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
A plan to ask voters for tax help to build a new
elementary in Nephi, add to the school in Mona and remodel
the present Red Cliffs Elementary is still being
considered.
The district, in order to begin the building process
fairly soon, would need to have approval from the district's
voters and would need the question on the November
ballot.
Ross Wentworth, of Naylor, Wentworth, Lund Architects,
met with the Juab School District Board of Education on
Wednesday to show them school floor plans for the proposed
new elementary to be built south of Nephi.
"I have two floor plans with me," said Wentworth.
One was for a single story and one for a two-story
building. Both were oriented so the school would run north
and south and not fight the property slopes at the site.
"The property slopes from east to west," said Naylor.
"To save significant dollars, it would be wise to not have
to do extensive site development."
At present, building costs are being estimated at
approximately $150 per square foot which Wentworth thinks
may be elevated and that buildings may bid out for less.
Nevertheless, he said, it was difficult to determine what
the market would produce by the time the school is ready to
be bid.
A year or so ago, for example, buildings were bidding
at $110 per square foot. Since then, costs had escalated
sharply.
"Costs are just amazing," he said.
The level school has approximately 74,000-square feet
of floor space and the two story plan has approximately
77,0000-square feet.
"Both buildings would be very dramatic," said
Wentworth. "Two stories buildings, however, tend to have
more drama. But either building can look very nice located
above U.S. Highway 91."
He tended to think, said Wentworth, that the single
story footprint would be less expensive to build, but said
he would do further investigation and price checking to make
certain.
However, it may be that the difference in price was
not significant.
"Perhaps what is saved in site development would mean
that the elevators, stairways and extra bathrooms in the
two-story plan would be free."
If the building costs were not significant, said Leon
Pexton, board president, he would be interested in learning
which building would cost less to operate because that may
then become a factor.
Delanie Hathaway, board vice-president, said she was
also interested in learning which school would service the
academic program in the best way and was interested in
meeting with district educators to find out which building
they would prefer.
"The St. George schools you visited were all lean,"
said Wentworth.
By that, he meant, he said, that they were beautiful
schools and were well-adapted to the educational needs of
the patrons but were built less expensively than some
districts in the state who liked architectural extras, such
as round towers.
"I will sit down with some builders and see which
option they think would bid out less expensively," said
Wentworth.
In addition, he said, the Davis School District had
good records on buildings and may be able to help out since
they had a two-story elementary which Wentworth had used as
his example of a two-story structure.
Main access for the school, in either design, is a
side road and not the main highway.
Both models feature 24-classrooms, multipurpose areas,
teacher work areas, and activity centers. Some breakout
areas have been planned.
The two-story building breaks down into thirds, as to
classroom arrangement, and the single level school breaks
into two halves.
"Interior space, where you have slid the classrooms
out, is not expensive space, is it?" asked Hathaway.
Wentworth said that it was not.
"It is good space to build in and comes at cheaper,"
he said.
Hathaway said some of the decision, in addition to
cost, to be considered when choosing a plan was the if one
building had a stronger educational factor to recommend it
than did the other."I like both plans, it is a question of
which serves academics best."
Builders tended to bid less expensively on buildings
that were easier to build, said Wentworth. Ease of building
was a big factor.
He also recommended, that once he gets his plan to the
point where it meets district needs and the board, educators
and patron groups are satisfied, it may be best to move into
the final design phase and get the project ready for bid in
case it does pass the voters approval.
"We would be ready to bid in January, if we followed
that plan," he said.
That would move the district into the process before
the usual bids were called for, during the spring, and would
mean the district would get the jump on the project.
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