Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Auditorium vote set for May 8

On May 8, the patrons of the Gurdon School District will be asked to approved the restructuring of district debt.

Gurdon Superintendent Bobby Smithson said the auditorium is needed and that restructuring the districts debt is the best way to accomplish the project. The districts current facilities include a cafetorium which will seat approximately 300 persons and a gymnasium which will hold 1,200.

The gym is not air conditioned, and Smithson said it was really designed for the sole purpose of housing physical education and athletic events.

In a prepared document, Smithson said the proposed new auditorium would seat 1,200. It could be used for school and community events including the Gurdon Forest Festival Queen contest, choir and band concerts, musical productions, school assemblies and graduation. He said the facility would also be available to the community on an as needed basis.

The estimated cost of building the auditorium is $2 million, Smithson said. This is based on $105 per square foot. The state has promised to fund 48 percent of the projects costs leaving the district needing just more than $1 million for completion.

Anita Cabe has been heading up the drive to bring in private funds for the project. Smithson said Cabes efforts will work with the restructuring plan.

"I dont know how much Mrs. Cabe has, but shes not nearly at that figure," Smithson said. "The amount shes collected will go toward items not included in the basic construction."

There are several options to raise the money needed to complete the project, Smithson said, but there is only one which is viable and requires no additional taxes  the restructuring of current debt. In order to restructure, the district will sell bonds to pay off existing debt and at the same time raise money for the auditorium.

This is what the district is hoping voters will approve.

Smithson said the request to restructure the bonds in order to raise the funds for the auditorium will only address the basic building construction. He said there will be additional expenses - including furnishings - after that point.

"We dont have enough collected to date," he said. "If we did, we wouldnt ask for a restructuring."

In a recent interview, she endorsed the districts current plan to restructure debt but said private fund raising will continue.

I support the bond issue, Cabe said, but we are continuing to raise private funds in an effort to keep the district in as little debt as possible.

Any money raised by Cabe will go towards the auditorium, and this will provide the district with the option of using leftover monies from the bond issues to retire the debt early.

The longer we wait, the cost of construction will continue to increase, Smithson said. We ask you to give serious thought to support the construction of a new auditorium which will be located on the corner of Highway 67 South and Go-Devil Road.

(Wendy Ledbetter contributed to this report.)