BY DAN HILDEBRAN
During an October 14 workshop, Union County School Board members said they favored a two-story design for the proposed Lake Butler Elementary school over a one-story option.
Greg Kelly of Clemons, Rutherford and Associates, the architectural firm hired by the district to design the school, presented school board members with the advantages and disadvantages of both options.
He said the two-story option allowed for 60 more cars in the parent pickup line, 45 additional parking spaces, and room for an additional 32 classrooms should the district need to add to the facility in the future.
Superintendent Mike Ripplinger said the capacity for additional classrooms appealed to him, recognizing that the new elementary school will have to serve the district beyond the next 30 years.
“If all of a sudden we start having large home developments and things like that that seem to be popping up in other counties,” he said, “if that comes here, that will provide more flexibility for us to expand.”
Board Member Terra Johnson said the two-story option offered a more compact facility.
She told her colleagues she remembers walking around MacClenny’s one-story Legacy Elementary School.
“It was the longest distance from the beginning of the school to some of those wings,” she recalled. “It was a long, long walk.”
Kelly agreed that the two-story design shortens the distance between the building’s components, which he said adds a safety factor to the taller structures, because administrators and school resource officers can get to problems quickly.
Board member Becky Raulerson added that she has a friend who is an administrator in Bonifay, whose school district recently completed a two-story school. Raulerson said the administrator reported no injuries to students walking up and down the facility’s stairs.
“I was worried about kids falling down the steps,” Raulerson explained to fellow board members. “She said, ‘We have not had one problem.’”
Bill Pearson of Parrish McCall, which the board hired to build the nearly $90 million facility, told board members maintenance would be slightly more difficult in a two-story building, but added, “you’ve got half as much roof area.”
Board member Chris Hodgson asked if a two-story design would increase compliance costs with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Kelly replied that the taller building would have one or two elevators.
Ripplinger added that the county courthouse is now the only two-story structure in Lake Butler and that the top floor is used regularly.
“I know there was a concern about elevator maintenance,” he said, “but there are companies that come in and do yearly inspections and maintenance.”
Based on the board’s feedback, Kelly said his firm would proceed with the design, focusing on a two-story building.
Ripplinger told board members that the state had not yet forwarded the first draw for the project, holding up the purchase of the 23.23-acre site.
He added that with payments from the state becoming less reliable, the public should exercise caution with the project.
“Nobody more than me wants to see this school built yesterday,” he said. “We do need to remind the public and everybody to be patient. This is going to take some time.”
