After roughly two years of planning, debating, and admittedly arguing about the renovation of Webster County High School, Webster County Board of Education members were all smiles at a special ground-breaking ceremony held Thursday night before the start of a special called meeting.

The process took so long that at one point, Webster County Board of Education Chair James Nance even joked that he wondered if the school project would be approved before I-69, a multi-state venture that has been debated for more than 15 years.

The approximately $8.5 million WCHS project, which is actually the first phase of a multi-phase plan, will include construction of new classrooms, balancing out the landscape of the entire Dixon campus so that all of the campus’ three buildings can be connected together at the same elevation, and a new gymnasium.

Eventually, some existing classrooms will be demolished, but that is more than two years away, after the estimated 12-to-18-month renovation and construction is completed.

The idea to build on to Webster County High School began as merger talks with the former Providence Independent School District were being concluded, and as a condition of merging, the board secured approximately $5 million in bonding from the state’s Urgent Needs committee. However, the agreement carried a stipulation that the district would levy taxes at the highest rate possible without a recall each year, which later left board members frustrated about the agreement.

In 2007 and 2008, almost every meeting held — including some special called meetings specifically for that purpose — saw board members and district architect Tim Townsend of Townsend and Associates pouring over blueprint designs, building specification concepts, and alternative drawings, all of which had to gain final approval from the Kentucky Department of Education.

In March of last year, the final blueprint was submitted to KDE and eventually approved.

In April 2008, The J-E published an article, in which Webster County School District Superintendent James Kemp was interviewed, detailing the final set of blueprint specifications, and what the actual construction work would entail.

In that article (as follows in the excerpt below), Kemp explained the main focus of the project is to convert the Dixon campus’ three facilities — the high school, annex, and Area Technology Center — into a single building.

“KDE said earlier they wanted the new... addition to the school to connect the... high school with the annex and the ATC such that it becomes all part of a planned... building concept,” Kemp was quoted in the April 3 published J-E article. “We look at the building project as an opportunity to tie these three units together.”

He pointed out each of the three buildings were built separately, and at different times. As a result, he said, they are all at different elevations that required “additional planning” in the current developments to make the new hallways connect correctly.

“We are taking three buildings that don’t look the same and our architect’s challenge is to make them look like they’re all part of the same building plan,” he said.

During their review of the renvation blueprints, KDE officials mandated slight changes to the schematics, primarily within the hallway that connects the building to the ATC.

“They want to keep the crooks and turns in the hallways to a minimum,” he said. “KDE looked at those, as well as at the size and dimensions of the classrooms, hallways, and storage closets... and just general assumed placement of utilities.”

Kemp said other changes recommended by KDE were made with the possibility of future renovation in mind, and also pointed out that the current design will be completed in a series of “phases.” Phase one, Kemp said, is the new addition that will include the construction of 15 to 16 new classrooms, a new gymnasium, new media center, and expansion of the high schools’ “cafetorium.”

Townsend provided a copy of the revised blueprint for the building plan at that time, and in the e-mail that accompanied it called the changes that were made based on discussions with KDE officials “a reduction in square footage in certain areas,” including:

•a reduction of classroom sizes to meet KDE minimums (750 sq. ft.);

•a reduction of corridor widths to meet KDE minimums (nine feet “clear width”);

•a reduction of classroom storage areas to minimums. “These rooms were to be individual saferooms, but now the corridors serve as safe areas,” Townsend said; and

•an alteration of corridors that Townsend referred to as being “simplified and reduced.”

“The total square footage reduction equated to 4,000 suare feet... which is quite a bit of space,” Townsend stated in the spring 2008 e-mail.

When asked about the blueprint on Monday, Townsend said no changes have been made since the final approved submission in March of last year.

Bids for the project were opened in November, with the winning bid going to Peyronin Construction. Townsend told the school board at that meeting that the bid came in under estimates, and it was pointed out by a finance corporation representing the board that the district will only have to pay on $3.5 million of the project, as the rest will be covered by the bonding potential granted it from Urgent Needs assistance.

In December, the district sold the bonds, and set the groundbreaking ceremony date for Thursday night, Jan. 15. While there is still some preliminary work to be completed, the renovation project is expected to begin within just a few weeks time, and district officials are hopeful the current phase will be completed by the start of the 2010-2011 school year, some 18 months from now.