Let the renovations begin

The Jay Royals have been asking for an updated facility for several years, and those renovations will soon be underway.

Jay High School, which holds about 500 students within its walls, is in desperate need of a renovation.

At Thursday’s school board meeting, board members approved the low bidder Jack Morris Construction to work on improvements on the high school, which was built in 1976, at an estimated $6,185,000.

Jay High School has been in the construction bidding pool for as long as Joey Harrell, Assistant Superintendent for Administrative Services can remember.  Talks on a new Royals facility have been in the works for years.    

“This has been going back and forth for two and a half years now,” Harrell said.  “The main reason why we have to rebuild is because of several stress cracks.”

Those stress cracks, which are visible on the front of the building near the high school’s main office, have been worrisome for several years now.

“Basically, we realized that at some point in time, this building could be deemed unsafe,” Harrell said.

As of now, the walls are being held together by structural support beams, and Harrell said the new Jay High School building (building one) should break ground within the month.

“We’re actually having a pre-construction meeting this week,” he said.  “There we will get all of the application contracts signed and hopefully start this project by mid-March.”

Harrell said the new building would be a little over 32,000 square feet bigger than the current building, and said the need for a bigger school is not necessarily there in Jay, despite what many think.

“The population in Jay has not been booming, and has pretty much stayed consistent over the years,” he said. “We don’t necessarily need a bigger structure, but the option is there.”

Harrell said he can’t remember the last time Jay High School got any sort of renovation, but estimated it has been 15-20 years. 

The original budget for the project was set at $10 million according to STOA Architect who is looking over the project. Of the eight bidders that put in their prices, Jack Morris out of Tarpon Springs, Fla. was $750,000 less than the highest of the eight bidders. 

Harrell said when the school looked at the possibility of building a new Jay High School years ago, the cost per square foot was astounding

“Because of the current market, the prices per square footage have dropped tremendously,” Harrell said.

Harrell noted that when they first looked at the possibility of construction years ago, the cost per square foot was $150 and up.  With Jack Morris Construction, the school board can expect to pay around $106 a square foot. 

Saving money seemed to be a hot topic at last Thursday’s meeting as board member Ed Gray considered trying to pay off some of the debt the schools owe though loans from building renovations.

“I would consider paying these loans off early,” Gray said. “That debt is a drag on us, as all debt is.”

Harrell agreed with the school board member saying that paying off the debt early would be good for the district, but it can also backfire.

“Reduction of debt is always a good thing, but we need to wade out our options before we pay it off,” Harrell said. “There are still several projects that can be done with the money that would be used to pay off the debt.”