Fairbanks officials shared new renderings for their master facility plan at the board of education meeting on Monday. Above, the additions and renovations coming to the high school and middle school building include a new 12,000 square-foot multi-purpose competition gym extending north over the existing parking lot and a new 19,000 square-foot front. At bottom, one design of the six new classrooms being added to the elementary school building.
(Graphics submitted)
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Fairbanks officials recently offered an update on its facility plan including new renderings from their ongoing campus changes.
At the Monday board of education meeting, school officials discussed the progress of facilities committee meetings and showed updated renderings – some seen and some new.
Superintendent Adham Schirg said the images of the middle and high school buildings will be familiar to some who attended the facility task force meetings, but otherwise may be new to residents in the district.
He also discussed new renderings of the inside of classrooms, which show color schemes and layout options.
“The color scheme will be Panther red, some gray and some black,” he said, also noting a “mock classroom” will be installed soon. “We’ll have that in the building so folks can come in the coming weeks and see.”
The district approved plans for the updates to the campus late last year and decided to do them in two phases. Fairbanks is working with the architectural firm Garmann Miller on the plan and Elford Construction for the work.
The first phase will include the elementary addition and will add six classrooms to the building and also serve as swing space while work is completed at the middle and high school.
Schirg said four of the classrooms will have intervention spaces, which will make them about 100 feet smaller than the two 900 square-foot spaces.
The middle and high school changes will be the second phase and consists of additions and complete renovation of the connected building.
Work on that will include 19,000 square-feet on the front of the building, a 12,000 square-foot multi-purpose competition gym, a reprogramming of current spaces, a full renovation of the building, and infrastructure work around campus.
“This (design) was voted on and given feedback on a couple of times from our task force and it incorporated elements from three of the plans that were originally presented,” he said. “This gives everyone a concept of what the additions will look like on the building.”
He said some things may change, but the images give a good idea of the scope of the update.
Schirg said facility subcommittees are beginning to meet and include information related to teaching and learning, athletics, site planning, and food, dining, and common spaces.
“Last week, we had a site planning meeting with Elford. We continued to examine several pieces of the construction plan including parking, lay down, access, security, and timeline,” said Schirg. “We will continue to update the board and task force as these meetings occur.”
He said the district is trying to keep residents informed on all the changes as quickly as they occur, noting he received the update in ballot language from the Union County Board of Elections earlier this month for the district’s levies in November.
Board officials approved two measures to be on the ballot this year, both done to support the facility updates.
The first phase cost of $3 million will be paid with current general and permanent improvement funds but phase two will require $34 million. That request is split across the two ballot issues.
One will be make the current .25% permanent improvement income tax continuing, allowing the district to finance $11 million against it.
That percentage is something district residents already pay.
The second ballot issue will be an additional .25% income tax and 1.85 mil in property tax to raise $23 million. Both taxes will be termed for 30 years, according to the district’s website.
Schirg said there are several opportunities for people to learn more about the levies including a community meeting next Monday at 6:30 p.m. and Superintendent Office Hours the following day from 6-7:30 p.m.