Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Bids On Emmet Gym Too High

Optimism is about all Dr. Gene Ross, superintendent of the Emmet School District, has left.

Bids to rebuild the gymnasium were opened Thursday, May 22, with three being received. The gym was burned down on Nov. 19, 1996.

However, all three bids received were well considerably more than the district anticipated. Dr. Ross said the low bid was $797,000 from May Construction of Little Rock. Coker Construction of Texarkana was next with a bid of $872,000, while Jim Wood Construction of Little Rock turned in a proposal for $907,000.

The district, he said, was looking to try and build a new gym for about $700,000.

Still, Dr. Ross hopes to have the new facility up and running by early December so the Emmet Eagle basketball teams can play their home games at home.

The Eagles, he said only have one game scheduled in November, so there should be no problems if construction can begin in early July.

But, he said, if the district has to rebid, the delay could force the teams to play their games elsewhere.

According to Dr. Ross, it will take about four months to construct the gym.

The contractors, he said, gave the district a list of items it could change to save money, but not enough to offset the bids submitted.

In addition, Dr. Ross said the district is trying to negotiate with the architect, but the talks aren't going very well.

While the district has made plans to put $100,000 from the operating fund into the rebuilding of the gym, Dr. Ross said even more money may have to be transferred.

The district, he said, should get extra money in state aid for the next year, but nothing is concrete about how much this will be.

Nate Coulter, the district's attorney, is expected to talk with the school's insurance carrier, the Arkansas Department of Education, later this week. Dr. Ross said the carrier asked to be notified once the bids were opened and may be willing to allow more for the claim.

Originally, the insurance company offered to pay the district 10 percent more than the gym was insured for, $409,000.

But, Dr. Ross, when the fire occurred, was originally informed the district had replacement cost coverage. This was later denied by the carrier.

More, he said, will be known once Coulter speaks with the insurer.

"We're still optimistic," he said.

In the meantime, the Eagles will be doing their early season workouts on the tennis courts during school hours, when weather permits, and hopefully can make use of the Prescott Middle School gym after school. This is what the Eagles did last year when the gym burned.

Emmet Coach Richard Stivers said his squads will try to use the old Laneburg gym to practice in. This is if the details can be worked out with the owner of the property.

"It would help out if we can get it," he said. "If we do, I'll take both junior high teams there together."

There may not be a senior girls team again next season. For the 1996-97 campaign, the Lady Eagles only played conference games, and this with a minimal squad.

On the other hand, Stivers said the junior girls team should be pretty good as he has two players standing 5-10 who can play.

Part of the problems he faces, though is home and home games with Bradley and Spring Hill. These series are slated to occur before Christmas.

The Eagles will travel to Bradley and Spring Hill in October, but are scheduled to play the two Bear teams in November and December at Emmet. Stivers said the district may try to make arrangements to use the Prescott High School gym for these games.

"It's a mess," he said. "I don't look for us to be in (a new gym) next year. We're going to take it one day at a time and do the best we can with what we've got."