Fort Smith school board reviews capital projects, approves trophy case rebuild

Almost $14 million in ongoing and planned construction projects, including a new trophy case at Southside High School, were reviewed Monday (Feb. 23) by the Fort Smith Public School Board. The board approved the estimated $300,000 to install the trophy case.

Joseph Velasquez, the district’s construction project manager, reviewed projects in some stage of construction, including $3.786 million for roof work at Southside High School. The cost of the work presented to the board totaled $13.726 million.

Following is a list of and more information about the projects.

• Southside High School roof: $3.786 million, with construction expected to begin March 16
• Elementary playground renovation, Phase 1: $2.982 million, with estimated completion estimated in March, but will vary by campus
• Northside High School roof: $2.865 million, with completion expected in June
• Service center bus parking lot repaving: $1.356 million, with completion expected in April
• Cavanaugh Elementary roof: $1.029 million, with construction set to begin in April
• Carnall Elementary roof: $1.025 million, with completion estimated in May
• Peak Innovation Center drainage work: $679,704, with work set to begin in May

There are several projects in design, with cost estimates ranging between $18.4 million and $23.4 million, according to the district.

Following are the projects in the design phase that were reviewed.

• New indoor and outdoor football turf at Northside and Southside High Schools: $2.5 million to $3.5 million
• Planned new roofs — damaged in part during a 2021 hail storm — at five elementary buildings (Ballman, Fairview, Howard, Spradling, and Sutton), paid for with insurance proceeds: $4.5 million to $5.5 million
• Peak Innovation Center drainage work, Phase 4: $2 million to $5 million
• Noise mitigation at Carnall Elementary: $4.8 million
• Southside High School cafeteria floor: $800,000
• Woods Elementary roof: $1 million
• Elementary playgrounds, Phase 2: $1.1 million
• Cafeteria furnishings at up to six schools: $1.1 million
• Standardized signage for district facilities: $600,000

“We’re spending a lot of money,” Board President Dalton Person said at the end of Velasquez’s presentation. “I think you should direct administration — well, I think they already are — to consider funding revenue sources moving forward if we’re going to continue with this level of capital projects.”

In a conversation later in the meeting, District Superintendent Martin Mahan said the district will need to be cautious with spending because “we are going to be struggling with loss of student enrollment.”

“We will probably at some point look at bonds in the future because a lot of the capital projects that you have looked at tonight is because the buildings are older, we’re finding issues that we didn’t know exist, expenses that we didn’t expect,” Mahan told the board.

TROPHY CASE
Jeff Prewitt, principal at Southside High School, asked the board to approve moving forward with an estimated $300,000 plan, not including design costs, to rebuild a large trophy presentation area in the main entry area.

“The absence of trophy display cases in the main hallway limits students’ connection to their achievements,” the district noted in a presentation about the trophy case. “Reinstalling these showcases will inspire pride and recognition of Southside’s rich history of excellence. Many championship trophies are currently stored away, preventing students and visitors from experiencing Southside’s legacy of excellence. Restoring visible displays is essential to celebrate these achievements and inspire future generations.”

He said “unintended consequences” of the high school renovation was loss of space to display trophies and other achievements that were once in the building’s entry hall. Prewitt said many of the trophies are in storage. He said Southside’s “tradition of excellence deserves to be seen, not stored.”

Person said after Prewitt’s pitch that the district did say it would work to restore a trophy presentation area. Mahan acknowledged that the district did promise to rebuild a trophy presentation area.

The board voted unanimously to fund the Southside trophy case rebuild if it can be funded from the district’s capital fund budget.