School Projects Moving Forward In Washington County

Rendering of a new 1,800-seat arena for Farmington High School, which will be built on a 45-acre tract on Arkansas 170 on the south side of town. The Farmington School District hopes to begin construction of the arena and a fine arts complex behind the arena (not visible in the rendering) in early summer and to be completed in January 2015. The design is by Hight-Jackson Architects in Rogers. The project will cost about $9.5 million.
Rendering of a new 1,800-seat arena for Farmington High School, which will be built on a 45-acre tract on Arkansas 170 on the south side of town. The Farmington School District hopes to begin construction of the arena and a fine arts complex behind the arena (not visible in the rendering) in early summer and to be completed in January 2015. The design is by Hight-Jackson Architects in Rogers. The project will cost about $9.5 million.

The Farmington School District is just weeks away from breaking ground on the first phase of a high school, adding to the list of school construction in Washington County.

Elkins’ high school is projected to open in August. Prairie Grove and West Fork have plans on the drawing board for new facilities but both are waiting to hear if they will received state partnership money.

Meanwhile, work continues on the second phase of the Fayetteville High School transformation.

In all, more than $100 million in construction projects are in play in the school districts.

“We are so strapped for space,” said Farmington Superintendent Bryan Law. “We see this as creating educational opportunities for kids.”

The first phase consists of an 1,800-seat sports arena, a 600-seat auditorium, stage and dressing rooms, plus rooms for band, choir and drama.

The arena and fine arts spaces will be in a 74,000-square-foot building.

The projected cost of the first phase is about $9.5 million, Law said. He said the district will know in May if it qualifies for about $1 million in state partnership money for the fine arts space. State partnership money cannot be used to build athletic facilities.

The money is secured regardless of the outcome of the district’s request for partnership money. Law said most of the cost will be paid from a capital building fund, created by the school board about 10 years ago. Annual allocations have been made to the fund.

“The fund is very much alive and still growing,’ he said.

Phase II, which will include construction of the rest of the high school, is a couple of years away, Law said. He said the building’s design will depend on the needs of the high school instructional programs

The total cost of the high school, including a football complex, is projected to be about $22 million.

The site is a 45-acre tract adjacent to the Famington Methodist Church on Arkansas 170.

Enrollment in Farmington schools is about 2,300, including 700 in high school grades 9 through 12. The ninth grade will remain in the existing high school as part of an academy.

Construction is progressing smoothly on Elkins High School, mainly because of a relatively mild winter, officials said.

Most of the roof is on and windows are being installed at the school, said Gail Shepherd, an architect at Hight-Jackson Associates in Rogers.

“We’re close to being closed in,” Shepherd said. She estimated the project is 50 percent to 60 percent complete and on track to be finished for the 2013-14 school year.

At A Glance

Partnership Money

The Division of Public School Academic Facilities provides financial assistance for education facilities depending on a mathematical calculation involving a district’s assessed valuation and the number of students. The calculation is called the district wealth index. The higher the wealth index, the less money a district receives.

Source: http://arkansasfacilities.arkansas.gov/

The building contains 68,206 square feet for grades nine through 12. It is on a 60-acre tract west of the existing high school, which was built in the 1950s.

The construction cost is about $10 million. The price includes $100,000 for demolition of four older buildings and some asbestos removal in other buildings.

A citizens committee worked with the school district planning for the new school, including helping to pass a 4.6-mill property tax increase nearly two years ago to finance construction. The district also received about $6.9 million in state assistance.

Prairie Grove wants to replace its elementary school and is waiting on approval of its application for partnership money before developing final plans, said Assistant Superintendent Vol Woods. The district also plans to build a safe room, or tornado shelter, attached to the elementary and a new high school gymnasium.

The district will need to pass a bond issue for the projects but that won’t be decided until after the district learns the outcome of the request for partnership money.

West Fork School District is playing the same waiting game for three projects, a new physical education facility at the middle school, two classrooms and restrooms at the middle school and an expansion of the fine arts building for the band and choir.

Superintendent John Karnes said the projects total ranges from about $1.5 million to $1.75 million.

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