Greensburg school district finalizing plans for new campus

USD 422 officials are working to finalize architecture designs this month for Greensburg's new school.
    Superintendent Darin Headrick said approximately 75 percent of the plans are completed, and he said he wants the remaining details to be settled by the end of September. School officials need to finish the plans so final cost estimates and funding can be arranged.
    "We're not there yet, but we will be," Headrick said.
    Brekebile Nelson Immenschuh McDowell Architects, an architecture company from Kansas City, Mo., committed to creating sustainable designs, is expected to break ground for the new school in November.  
    The 122,000-square-foot campus located on Main Street will house the city's pre-K through 12th-graders. The facility will have sections for young children, elementary-level students, junior high and high school.
    Although each section will have its own classroom space, students will also share common areas such as the library, media center, cafeteria and courtyard. The second floor above the library and media center will contain high school classrooms that will be equipped to accommodate at least 150 students.
    The campus will also have new athletic facilities, including a practice gym and a  main gym to be used primarily by junior high and high school students.
     In keeping with the city's goal to build for sustainability, the school will be built to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum standards, with many "green" features.
    Taylor Schmidt, a senior at Greensburg High School and a member of the Green Club, said the school buildings and the rest of the city will be built to promote an environmentally friendly way of life.
    "We've just been building smarter," he said. "Why not? It makes so much sense to take your time and build responsibly and sustainably."
    Headrick said having fancy buildings is not the primary focus. Instead, he said, the new school will be economical and sustainable.
    The buildings are designed with many south-facing windows to take advantage of natural light, he said. 
    "Most of the time, classrooms won't have to turn the lights on," he said.
    The school will also use geothermal pumps for heating and cooling, have slanted to collect and reuse rain water and reuse it, and rely on wind generators to utilize Greensburg's natural wind power.
    The buildings will also have improved air quality compared to the previous older school buildings. Also, much of the flooring will be sealed concrete to help create a more economical school. 
    Headrick said the campus is designed to utilize every square foot of the school to avoid having wasted space that needs to be maintained.
    "The learning spaces are so much more appropriate," he said.

Building for the future
    This is not the first time that Greensburg schools have been innovative and ahead of the game, Headrick said. He added that technology is integrated into the schools at a very advanced level.
    At the high school, every student has a laptop with wireless Internet access. The students are permitted to take their laptops home for personal use as long as they follow the school's computer use policy. Instead of using traditional textbooks, high school students have their books on tablet computers.
    "We are very proud of where we are technologically," Headrick said.
     Construction on the new school will be done in phases because some of the land for the new campus is currently occupied by students.
    The space currently being used will become the parking lot and industrial arts space for the new campus.
    The city of Greensburg may also build additional facilities on the existing land to be used as a park and a swimming location for residents. 
    Headrick said Greensburg is still working to close $4 million to $10 million in funding gaps for the new school, depending on the final design cost estimates. An increase in gas prices during the last year has caused construction prices to rise rapidly, affecting the cost of the new school.
    Headrick said the cost of building "green" does not add that much to the construction costs of the building. He said the way construction is right now, even building an old building without advanced sustainability qualities would cost approximately $40 million.
 Headrick said the school is a well-designed, highly effective structure that will be built with the future in mind.
    "Twenty years from today, it will still be inexpensive to operate," he said.
    Headrick estimated that the design of the new campus will allow the district to save up to 45 percent in utility costs, compared to a similar building without the same environmentally friendly qualities.
    "It's very expensive to build green, but in the end it's cheap," said Maci Colclazier, a junior at the high school. "In the long run, it definitely pays off to build green."
    Greensburg expects to break ground on its new school in November and have it completed by May 2010.

Reach Cherise Forno at (620) 408-9931 or e-mail her at cherise.forno@dodgeglobe.com.