Shelter to remain in plans for building

CELINA - School board members this week agreed to keep a storm shelter in the design plans for a grade 7-12 school building even though it is no longer required by Ohio Facilities Construction Commission (OFCC).

District facilities director Phil Metz at the regular board meeting said he's working with project architect Garmann Miller on a list of features to be included in the 7-12 building.

Superintendent Ken Schmiesing said officials originally believed a storm shelter was mandatory on an OFCC project. That is not longer the case, he said.

The storm shelter is already incorporated in the design of the 115,000-square-foot addition going up west of the intermediate school at 227 Portland Street as part of a consolidated pre-K-sixth grade facility.

But board members could drop it from the 7-12 building design, Schmiesing said. While some may argue the district could save money by forgoing the shelter others may question why officials value the lives of elementary students more than 7-12 students, Schmiesing said.

"Having spent a night in a tornado, I want the storm shelter," said board member Barbara Vorhees.

Other board members agreed to keep the storm shelter in the plans. Board member Carl Huber said the shelter would likely cost over a million dollars.

A new 7-12 gymnasium would double as a storm shelter capable of containing the school's occupancy plus the community, Huber said.

"It's not just a safe space but it's actually a separate entity. So if there is a massive storm, it's going to have its own separate ventilation, plumbing, restroom, power generation system. It would be on its own separate systems," he explained.

Metz also offered an update on the construction of the pre-K-sixth-grade project that began last month.

"Masonry walls continue to go up. All of the footers are poured, so beginning all the foundation work on the pre-k-six building," he said, adding three walls of the gymnasium/tornado shelter are climbing higher.

The addition itself will contain classrooms for grades PK-3. The 81,000-square-foot intermediate school will be renovated and reprogramed to serve grades 4-6, according to the Bulldog Building Project website.

The addition is expected to be ready for the 2024-2025 school year. Renovations of the existing intermediate school building will continue through the fall of 2024.

Abatement and demolition of the existing west building will occur in the spring and summer of 2025, and all remaining site construction will be completed prior to the start of school in 2025, according to a school news release.

The new 7-12 building will be located on the existing Celina Primary School site.

Construction is on track to start in summer 2024 and be completed in the summer of 2026, according to the release.

District voters in May 2021 narrowly approved a roughly $75.9 million bond issue and a 0.5-mill levy to build a middle/high school and renovate the intermediate school with an addition that will house preschool-sixth grades. The total project is estimated at $126.8 million. Bonds issued to raise the district's share of the project were issued with net interest just under 2.8% and will be paid back over 37 years.

The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission signed off on the release of $51 million in state funds for the project.