By Steven Stilt
Two construction projects taking place on the Centralia High School campus are on track to wrap up around the end of the school year, Superintendent Chuck Lane reported at Thursday night’s CHS Board of Education meeting.
Lane told the board that solid progress is being made on an approximately 2,000 square foot pole barn addition that will house a staff workout and wellness area. He says Johannes Construction, which is building the addition, was able to get a considerable amount of work done during more favorable weather conditions earlier this winter.
“They really benefited from having a lot of nice weather early on, like in December, where they could work a lot outside. They are drywalling now (and) probably going to start painting within a week. We’re really just waiting on the outside stuff, with Ameren, in order to finish it up.”
Also in progress at CHS is the installation of a solar array, which is being constructed by Keystone Power Holdings. Lane reports that the solar panels for the array are now at the high school and should be installed soon, if the weather allows, and his hope is that the array will be in place by the time the school year ends.
During Thursday’s meeting, the board approved a bid from Johannes Construction for the painting of classrooms at the CHS Annex. The Johannes bid of $55,500 was the lower of two bids submitted for the project, which is being funded by a school maintenance grant. Lane says the current timetable calls for the painting project to begin in July and conclude by the time school resumes.
Board members also approved several personnel items, including the resignation of Arylynn Evans as a full-time Annex aide and the employment of Will Henegar as an Annex security guard, Lundyn Waithe as a full-time technology specialist, Brooke Simonton and Jamie Cole as assistant cheer coaches, and Allison Martinez as a volunteer May Fete coordinator.
