SOLON — The Solon Community School District has several construction projects in various stages. Some are being completed as soon as Memorial Day weekend and some are still years from becoming a reality for the Spartans.
The Solon Intermediate School (SIS) expansion is still on track to be completed on time and within budget. They look to complete the final punch list by Memorial Day weekend. All that is left inside the building is furnishing the interior. The district is currently receiving furniture bids, which are due on February 18th. From there, they will select the best bid and complete one of the final steps of the expansion.
“[Finishing by Memorial weekend] will give plenty of time for teachers to move in and get situated,” said Superintendent Davis Eidahl.
The new transportation facility will also look to be completed by Memorial Day weekend. Right after the school year is wrapped up and the students part for the summer, the district will begin to move everything down into the new office space. Construction has slowed down a little bit since earlier this year, but it is because the district has been focused on getting as many local contractors as they can.
“People in our community, they’ve always lived here, they support our district,” said Eidahl, “They support us, and we want to support them.”
Lakeview Elementary School is in the beginning phases of its plans to renovate both the exterior and interior. The year-long renovation is expected to begin construction over the summer. OPN was hired as the architect and Larson Construction was called upon to help with the project. Once the design phase is completed by March, they will be able to decide how to move forward in a way where they can work on it through the next school year. By moving a grade level into the intermediate school, they will be able to close off sections of that building to keep it safe for students during all of the construction.
The renovations include a new HVAC system and a new membrane on the roof. As well as a couple of cosmetic upgrades. The district wants to upgrade the flooring, paint the walls, and add new lighting.
“The goal is to do as much as we can to where when we’re finished with the project, it’s going to resemble our other buildings,” said Eidahl.
Another major change to the building will happen on the sidewalks and parking lot surrounding the building. The district plans on redoing the sidewalk and curb in front of the school so it can have better water flow. About six years ago, there was a massive rain in Solon, and the water drained off the parking lot, up over the curb, under the front doors, and into some classrooms inside the building. This renovation would ensure that it will not happen again.
The bus lane behind Lakeview will also see some improvements. The district plans to extend the bus lane by changing the entry point. This would allow for more of a single file line, thus making it safer for students to hop off and on the buses.
The district has two big new plans for the future, but both are still waiting for a plot of land to open up. The district is continuing to search for a spot to build a brand-new multipurpose activity facility. The goal is to find a spot that is a walkable distance from the high school and middle school campus. Until that happens, the district is continuing to research other similar facilities in the area to make sure when the complex is built, they are not missing anything.
“We are just talking to some districts with those municipalities as far as, if you could go back and change something, what would you change? What do you like about your building, what don’t you like?” said Eidahl.
The other plan that is still years in the making is the new administrative offices. Once talked about as a collaboration project with the city, it has been decided that a combo-building is not feasible because of the lack of space in Solon for such a massive entity. There are still talks about finding a place where the offices and a community center could be located near each other, but they are not going to rush the process.
“We want to make sure it’s in the right spot that will be a benefit to our students and our schools for many years to come,” said Eidahl.
One of the most recently completed projects by the district is the safety and security upgrades they made at the beginning of this school year. New door scanners and cameras were installed – some cameras featuring a 180-degree view and a full 360-degree view. The district now has a view of more hallways and spaces than it had before the improvements. The live feeds are also accessible remotely by some administrators and the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department.
Editor’s note: Voters in 2023 approved a $25.5 million bond issue to expand the SIS, update Lakeview Elementary, convert the former truck shop on the north edge of Solon into a Transportation Center, demolish the former middle school/high school (and current administrative offices and Community Center) and replace with a new District Administrative Office, construct a large indoor multipurpose activities facility, and replace the field turf in Spartan Stadium.
The District received $200,000 of $75 million in federal pandemic relief funds dedicated to providing enhanced security measures for 1,500 school buildings in the state of Iowa. In January 2024 Eidahl estimated an approximate total of $328,000 will be invested in safety and security upgrades.