Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

School Construction Progressing

In the last few years Gurdon voters have taxed themselves an additional 15 mills to help the school district.

This tax hike has allowed the Gurdon School District to build a new high school complex, and, currently have construction underway on a new football stadium, track, physical education building for Cabe Middle School students and renovation for the Gurdon Primary School plant.

Gurdon Superintendent Bobby Smithson, speaking to the Gurdon Rotary Club Thursday, Feb. 4, gave an update on how construction is going for the district.

He said the PE building for CMS would also house two classrooms. These classrooms will be used by the choir and gifted and talented program. Currently, he said, the choir rehearses in the cafetorium while the GT students use any available classroom.

Five years ago, Smithson said, the GPS plant was the newest building in the Gurdon district. However, it needed major renovation work done. At the time, though, the district didn't have the funds to undertake such a project.

With the passage of a three-mill tax increase in Nov. 1997, this changed.

Now, plans are in the works to modernize the plant, and add a standing seam metal roof to the buildings. Such a roof, Smithson said, is be better than a flat roof because it is angled and water will run off instead of settling in low areas.

By the time the work is completed at GPS, he said, the district will have spent about $800,000 for the upgrades.

There is some concern about the time frame, Smithson said. The drawings for the work won't be ready until late March.

Once the plans are in and approved, the district must let the project out for bid.

The problem, Smithson said, is the construction crews will only have three months to get the job done.

Should the renovation work not be completed by the time the 1999-2000 academic year rolls around in August, work will be halted and resume when school lets out next summer.

March will also be the month the CMS PE building will be ready for occupancy, he said. There were delays in getting this project completed, primarily in getting the metal building shipped to Gurdon.

This building, he said, is two-thirds the size of a standard gymnasium. Along with the two classrooms, it will have dressing rooms for the PE students.

In talking about PE buildings, Smithson turned to the GPS structure. This building, he told the Rotarians, is done and is being used by the students.

However, when it was finished, there weren't enough bleachers for the kindergarten class. This, though, is being remedied as additional bleachers have been ordered.

Next up was talk of the football stadium.

This is the project people are most anxious about, Smithson said. Along with building a new football field, work is being done on a new field house and concession stand.

The field house will be 5,000 square feet and will house the weight equipment used by the players. In addition, there will be two dressing rooms, one for the senior team and one for the junior squad.

The junior dressing room will be utilized by visiting teams on Friday nights.

Gurdon Coach John Pace designed the field house with space for a whirlpool.

The field house, he said, will be built from split face block, as will the concession stand and restrooms. By doing this, Smithson told the club members, there will be a uniform look to the facility.

In addition, there will be a purple and gold strip painted around the field house and concession stand.

Smithson said the storage area for the concession stand will be as large as the current stand.

When the bleachers are installed, he said, the home side will be able to seat 1,250 fans, while the visitors side will hold 750.

The field will be lighted by 72 halight lamps on four 80-foot poles. There will be 18 lights on each pole, he said.

To the delight of the fans, the light poles will be behind the bleachers and not obstruct the view of the action on the field.

The football field and stands will be separated by the district's first track. Smithson said the track will be a composite, 80 percent asphalt and 20 percent latex. The eight-lane track will separate the gridiron and bleachers by 24 feet.

For the current projects, he said, the district has acted as its own contractor and job superintendent. This has saved the district money by reducing some of the costs. Still, he added, it's expensive.

The district's 1994 bond issue, he said, was refinanced and sold for 4.2 percent. This will save the district $119,000 over the life of the bond. The payments will be lower, but the time frame for paying it off remains the same.

Unless something major and unforeseen happens, he said, Gurdon's Go-Devils will be ready to play football on the new field next fall.

The district tried to move the first home game of 1999 to a Saturday night, but Lake Village refused to make the change. Still, the new complex will be dedicated when the Devils play their first home game of the season.

This, he said, will be week two of the campaign, as the Devils will be on the road to start the season.

Later on, he told the club members, the area for the band in the bleachers may be covered. This, though, was not included in the first phase of construction.