BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — As it plans for a large-scale renovations program for its buildings, Bowling Green City Schools is ready to seek community input on a plan created by a special facilities advisory team.
At a meeting Wednesday night, the facilities advisory committee presented their idea for the future of four school buildings to the community. The 80-person committee suggested major work at four district buildings that could cost an estimated $48.2 million to $58 million.
The group's Wednesday-night presentation highlighted the major issues with the four academic buildings: Bowling Green High School, Crim Elementary, Conneaut Elementary, and Kenwood Elementary.
While the list is pretty lengthy, some of the needs range from air conditioning for all the buildings to remodeling the elementary schools. In some cases, authorities say portions of buildings will need to be demolished and rebuilt.
Among the attendees Wednesday was School Board Vice President Ryan Myers, who was also a member of the committee.
"This group was very anxious to get going and roll up our sleeves and work. So I feel confident we're going to have a recommendation from the committee that we'll give to the board," Myers said. "I feel very confident that it's a good recommendation. We'll see where it goes from there."
Superintendent Francis Scruci said district officials want to be sure community members understand the planning process.
"To try to make sure the community understands that this was a long process. A process that was taken seriously and we tried to leave no stone unturned," Scruci said.
Because the project will be costly, Myers said the district is working to get input from throughout the community.
"From people that have traditionally supported the district on past levees, to people that have opposed. It's been very collaborative and I've enjoyed that," he said.
School Board President Jill Car said she believes the community is ready to hear about what the schools need.
"I'm very optimistic that where we are right now is the best place we can be in to move ahead," Car said. "We can take care of our high school first, which our community has been telling us they want us to do."
The Facilities Advisory Committee will meet again at 6 p.m., Tuesday, March 22 in the performance center at Bowling Green High School. The committee plans to make a formal recommendation about building improvements sometime in April or May.