Whether the awning in front of Winamac High School should be torn down or refurbished was a topic of debate during Monday’s Eastern Pulaski School Board meeting.
Superintendent Dan Foster said he’s had some discussion with board members, but he wanted some clearer direction about how to proceed. “Before we do make some contacts and talk to people, what information do we want, as far as choices?” he asked board members. “There’s been discussion of ‘We want it torn down,’ so we get a price for demo. That’s easy. But as far as any possible renovation-type stuff, what we were talking about was power washing the two brick ends there, along with some other areas of the school, and then the paint and the new lights, LED lights underneath it.”
Several board members said they wanted to know if the awning is structurally sound, before any firm decisions are made. Maintenance staff member Rick Green felt it was in pretty good shape, and that it just needed to be cleaned up and painted.
Board President Terri Johnston disagreed. “If you look at the bases where the actual brick is, it’s deteriorated around the surface,” she said. “I don’t know. I think we need some kind of an engineer or somebody who knows something about those bases to give an opinion because I see it as structurally not sound.”
She called for the awning’s removal. “I’m okay with nothing being up there. I think it’s dated and has lived its life.”
Board members Larry Beach, Tim Rausch, and Mike Tetzloff spoke in favor of keeping the awning, as long as it’s structurally sound. Foster agreed to ask the contractors who’ll be working on the upcoming concrete repairs to look at the awning, to get an idea of what repairs might be needed.
