BREAKING GROUND: Measure D funded projects move forward

Following a summer discussion over Measure D expenditures for Roseville High School, RHS is moving forward and completing designs for a new auxiliary gym.

RHS principal David Byrd spent the summer working with architects on designs and blueprints for the new gym.

“We started this summer going and doing some tours of some gyms that are being built,” Byrd said. “I think our goal right now is we would be able to navigate things through this year, start building next year in 2018-19, and be able to open up and in 2019-20 with this new auxiliary gym.”

After Measure D was passed last year, the Roseville Joint Union High School District speculated each of the five operating high schools would receive $13 million in bonds. However, varying priorities across the different high schools were factors in the differing budgets each school received.

According to RJUHSD assistant superintendent of business services Joe Landon, all schools are on track to receive about $13 million in bonds – while RHS and OHS need more.

“We talked about Roseville High School and Oakmont High School needing a little bit more due today to the age of the facilities,” Landon said. “So they were looking at getting somewhere closer to 15 [or] 16 million; while the others would go a little less than 13 million.”

Late last month, RHS assistant principal Jason Wilson, RJUHSD facilities development director Scott Davis, and Landon met with architects from Rainforth Grau Architects. According to the meeting summary, the auxiliary gym may be built in the current 900s parking lot used by teachers.

According to Byrd, the loss of the 900s parking lot won’t affect the total available parking.

“We don’t think we’re going to lose parking,” Byrd said. “It’s going to want to be in the same amount of parking because parking is an issue. But on a temporary basis, while they’re building it, it might be a real tricky parking situation.”

According to the meeting summary, the loss of the 900s parking lot may be compensated. Two options are under consideration: restriping the parking lot behind the 900s east building to add about 15 parking spaces or restriping the parking lot to add 8 more parking spaces.

The former involves relocating the motorized gate at the RJUHSD Transportation Department and campus perimeter fence west of the parking lot where the nine campus vans currently located in the 900s parking lot would also be relocated. The latter involves building a driveway from the Independence High School parking lot to the parking lot behind the 900 East building. According to the meeting summary, the former is currently preferred.

According to Landon, final designs for the new auxiliary gym should be completed before this December. Afterwards, it will require approval from the Division of State Architect, which could take six months or longer. Depending on how the timeline works out, Landon plans to break ground either fall 2018 or spring 2019.

“You usually don’t do a lot of construction in the wintertime because you have a lot of rain,” Landon said. “And so if we can get out early enough and start in the fall, we would. If not, it could be in the spring.”

Byrd also foresees the project’s possible effect on campus.

“Once it’s time to start building it’s going to be a huge disruption on campus,” Byrd said. “They’re not going to build an auxiliary gym in three months during the summer time. There’s no way. So it’s going to be probably a whole school year of getting that built.”

In an expenditure report released to the Independent Citizens’ Oversight Committee in May, RHS received $8,970,747. Six million of which is currently budgeted for a new auxiliary gym/women’s locker room – up one million dollars from a March expenditure report.

According to Landon, the budget set aside for the auxiliary gym could still rise – potentially expanding the school’s total Measure D budget.

“Right now, just as an idea, that project is looking like it’ll cost close to 10 million dollars,” Landon said. “Those are still just early numbers of ones that we haven’t finalized yet.”

The meeting summary also confirms removing six portables sitting on the abandoned tennis court before the project begins. The ticket booth, snack bar, and memorial will be relocated to a new stadium house. According to the meeting summary, the stadium house will include divided restrooms: a snack bar, and a box office similar to Whitney High School’s.

“At all the high schools, we’re looking at having a stadium/restroom/snack bar facility,” Landon said. “A lot of our schools, they bring in porta-potties for their football games, and so we’d like to have one central place where you’re able to have snacks, you’re able to sell, you have restrooms [and] you have some storage. So we’re looking at doing that at Roseville High School after the small gymnasium.”

Until RHS receives the final blueprints and state approval necessary to build the auxiliary gym, RHS will continue to focus on smaller projects.

Projects RHS recently completed include renovations for the cafeteria, refurbishment for the library, new roofing on the art wing, and a renovated ILS facility for special education kids.

According to Byrd, plans have been drawn up for landscaping projects that address about 15 flower beds around campus. In the May expenditure report, RHS received $50,000 for “landscaping updates.”

“I would love to see us be able to get started on some of that in the fall and get some of that in the ground,” Byrd said. “Then I think it could nurture and take root and by the time spring hits, it would be coming out and popping and be looking really good.”

In addition to the flower bed landscaping project, Byrd is pushing for bathroom renovations in the Moeller Gym and the A Wing (east of the 500s).

“That’s one we were banging the drum pretty loudly for we really want to improve that they just look old and decrepit,” Byrd said. “We’ve had a few meetings with our architect over the summer time. We did a lot this summer of planning and kind of looking at some stuff. We finally have a design model for [the] bathrooms on campus and refurbishing and redoing those challenge with bathrooms.”

According to blueprints provided by Byrd, the A Wing boys bathroom will have four individual sinks instead of the current singleton. Additionally, there will be seven urinals instead of twelve in order to make room for 6 privacy barriers in between the urinals. In an email, Byrd said the design standards in the 1950s and 1960s “called for more urinals, but current research indicates it is not necessary.”

Byrd noted that although the “the basic structure of the number of urinals and stalls and sinks should remain the same,” there will be some “plumbing and ceiling structure changes.”