SOLON — Early last March voters in the Solon Community School District (SCSD) approved a $25.5 million bond issue for six major facilities projects: expanding the Solon Intermediate School (SIS), updating Lakeview Elementary, creating a dedicated transportation facility, demolishing the former middle school/high school and District administrative offices, adding a large multi-purpose activities building, and replacing the turf in Spartan Stadium.
Work begins at SIS
A mild winter has allowed excavation work on the footings to begin on the SIS expansion project.
“Larson Construction (from Independence, Iowa) was awarded the bid and they were really good about how we minimize or limit any disruption of our procedures with student drop off and pick up and what the noise impacts will be,” said Superintendent Davis Eidahl. “They were very interested and wanted to partner with us as far as if we have important dates that we need them to almost be non-existent or very quiet (for State Assessment testing, as an example) if we give them those dates ahead of time, they will accommodate us to avoid noise and vibrations on those days.” Eidahl noted the playground and green space has necessarily shrunk due to the construction work and fencing enclosing the work area. “When the ground dries up we can move them (SIS students) around to the other side of the building and be creative in what we do. But little things like that, we’ll just have to live with for a year and the end result will be worth it.”
When completed the SIS project will add seven general education classrooms, one special education classroom and space, one project-based learning room, and a new gym. Students are expected to be moved into the new addition in August 2025.
Transportation facility
Peak Construction Group from North Liberty was awarded the contract to transform the former Joe’s Truck Shop along Hwy. 1 on Solon’s north side into a dedicated transportation facility.
“We’re just focused on the outside right now,” said Eidahl explaining exterior work will occur in two parts. First is concrete paving for the entire dirt and gravel parking lot. “Then we’ll be putting up a canopy structure that up to 14 of our buses can park underneath to at least keep the elements off of them. We spent a lot of time (during the two January snow storms) pulling those buses inside, melting them off and getting all of that snow off.” The buses will still be subjected to cold weather, he said, “But at least we’ll be able to keep the majority of the elements (snow and ice) off of them.” The canopy will also have electrical outlets to plug in battery chargers and block heaters for the diesel engines, adding resiliency and reliability during cold weather.
On a side note, during the extreme cold in January, Solon buses were able to run their routes as road conditions permitted. During the coldest period, Eidahl said, some of the buses were beginning to experience fuel gelling, which is common in diesels in extreme cold. “But they were able to make it back safely,” he added.
Interior work at the facility will consist of providing an area for the drivers and space for routine maintenance. Eidahl pointed out an added bonus to purchasing the truck shop. “When we purchased that from Joe we also hired Joe’s mechanic (Vince Gerlits II) as a District employee. We often say that the best part of that purchase was the mechanic that we got with it. He’s just been outstanding as far as keeping our fleet in tip-top shape, Credit Vince for our buses making it through that extreme cold snap. Those buses were prepared and he gets a lot of credit for the success we’ve had this year with out transportation including no breakdowns.”
Lakeview Elementary – making the most of windows of opportunity
Planning and design work is in the early stages for what will be a combination of exterior and interior renovations and improvements, particularly to the electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, roofing, parking lots, entryways, and playground.
“We haven’t dove into the schematics yet,” said Eidahl. “This summer we will start in on a portion of the heating and cooling. We did a big part of that prior to the bond and we’ve got another part of the building we’re going to tackle this summer, but we can only tackle a little at a time because we only have a 10-12-week window that we’ve got to be in and out.” Several walk-through’s have been conducted, he said, and now it is a matter of determining the scope of the project and the depth of the facelift.
Interest is high for indoor activities facility, but no site yet
“I know there’s a lot of interest in the community because we anticipate much of the community taking advantage of that with all of our travel baseball teams, our youth baseball and softball, soccer, archery, and so on. We figure that facility will be used pretty much nonstop.”
Eidahl said a number of visits have been made to other communities to see what facilities they have, what works for them, and more importantly, what they wish they had done differently. “We went to Diamond Dreams (a private sports academy) in North Liberty. We went to Williamsburg, who put one up a year-and-a-half ago. We’ve looked at Grinnell, we looked at one at North Scott (Eldridge), so we’re just trying to take a good look so we build exactly what we want and we want to get it right.” The goal is to accommodate all of what he called “the non-gym floor sports and activities. Just a different type of surface that can take a different type of beating.”
While the general concept is taking shape, there is still one very large question mark hanging over the project – “It’s the location,” said Eidahl.
“It’s the location that’s holding us up. We’ve had great conversations with the city because I know in the future the city would like to do something with some type of community center. What they want and what we want is different, but does it make sense if there was a big enough space that we’d put them by each other? And we could take advantage of each other’s at times if we needed to. A lot of conversations are happening, its just space.” While the community continues to grow, space for such a facility has been tough to find, and there is a desire to maintain a school campus. “I think that’s attractive to a lot of people that come through our community or move to our community, just having everything so close.”
One site that has been crossed off is the location of the current Solon Community Center in the former Middle School/High School. The building, leased to the city, also houses the District’s administrative offices but is slated to be torn down in the next few years with a freestanding administrative office built as a replacement. However the rest of the space needs to be preserved, Eidahl said. “That space has to be reserved for a future school if we’re going to maintain a campus. What that school is, that’s a future community conversation about how we organize our grade levels, but we really do need to reserve this footprint, this space, for another school as this community continues to grow.”
New turf with a new look coming this summer
ATG Sports Ram Turf was awarded the contract for the replacing the field turf in Spartan Stadium, which has exceeded its service life with a dozen years of use. The new playing surface will include a $100k shock pad under the artificial turf with the goal of enhancing the overall quality of the field while providing a safer surface and better playing experience for the student athletes.
With the new surface comes a new look. While the Spartan logo at midfield will remain relatively unchanged, the endzones will be black with orange lettering. The project is scheduled to begin Tuesday, May 28 after graduation and the varsity soccer season has ended with a July 3 completion date.
Eidahl is encouraging the community to go to the stadium before May 28 and walk the field, “And after the 4th of July, come back and walk it again. I’d be anxious for reactions to the improved technology and the improved surface.”
Update on Solon schools bond projects
February 22, 2024
About the Contributor
Chris Umscheid, Editor
Chris Umscheid is the editor of the Solon Economist.