Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Board updated on complex

Prescott's School Board was updated on the new multi-purpose complex for Prescott High School.

Jerry Hollensworth, with the architectural firm of Trull and Hollensworth, talked to the board at its regular monthly meeting, Tuesday, Oct. 14, showing it the proposed drawings of the facility.

Overall, the structure will encompass 9,150 square feet and include two classrooms (one being the distance learning lab), facilities for the family and consumer science classes and a field house for the junior high football teams.

Hollensworth said the site plans are the result of a survey done of the campus, with the idea being to keep the new building in the vicinity of the Wolf Den, which will be razed to make room for it.

Once the building is up, he said, all buildings on the PHS campus will be connected by covered walkways to help protect the students in inclement weather. In addition, an open air pavilion will be built on the north side of the Prescott Sports Complex, also called "Little Bud". The pavilion will be a gathering place for students.

The plans also include a new storage building.

However, one hitch in the plans is the location of utilities. The new building will be located between the main building and Cummins Field. But, there are overhead power lines there to be contended with. Additionally, he said, the plans have to take the location of the sewer system into account so the building can be hooked into it.

With the new facility to be located between the main building and football field, this will close off the access road behind PHS to all traffic. Hollensworth said something needs to be done so emergency vehicles can have access to the area.

This, he said, could be accomplished in a couple of ways. First, a gravel road could be constructed using either gravel or SB2. Or, a process called "grasspave" could be used. Grasspave, according to Hollensworth, would be utilizing a specialized grass drive through.

Grasspave is a technique using grass to pave with. However, it is more expensive than either gravel or SB2.

"We'll probably have to raise the sidewalk canopy at the band hall," he said, "from the road."

The family and consumer science classroom will be in the center of the structure and include four kitchens, but no commercial kitchen. For this aspect of the class, students will utilize the kitchen at Prescott Elementary School. The family and consumer science area will include a lecture area, office space and a clothing lab. It will take up most of the room in the building.

The other two classrooms will be on the north side of the building, while the field house will be on its south side. The field house will include lockers for the players, an office for the coaches, four showers and have a door facing the track  possibly an overhead door.

There will also be space in the field house for a training table, laundry facilities and equipment storage. On the outside of the building on the field house side there will be public restrooms.

The field house has space for about 50 lockers, he said, but the coaches want more lockers for the players as the numbers have increased.

Getting more detailed about the pavilion, Hollensworth said it will be steel on concrete and be raised. It will be located where the old home economics building was.

Talking about the power lines, Hollensworth said the city most likely will not want the district building under where there are overhead lines. "This will be the city's call. We've put the buildings in the area we have, and I think all needs have been met."

The idea is to stay away from all underground power lines as well. "Utilities can be relocated," Hollensworth said, "but I hate to do it. It always costs someone. Overhead lines are easier to relocate than underground ones."

Other things to be considered, he said, are the soil conditions of the area and the weather. The soil in the county is poor for building, and the weather always plays a factor in construction. "It may not be prudent for us to open the ground in the Spring because of the soil."

He closed reminding the board these were preliminary plans and the "first stab" at schematic designs for the building.