Architects continue refining plans for Knox Community Schools’ upcoming $20 million building project. Duane Dart with Schmidt Associates told the school board last week that drawings were being completed and a final “room-by-room” analysis was planned for last Friday.
“We’ll go room by room and kind of look at all the finishes, look at all the ceilings, carpets, outlets in greater detail than we’ve looked at it before,” Dart explained. “It’s been kind of very conceptual to less conceptual to now, it’s very real.”
Dart detailed some of the tweaks made to the plan since November. The planned multipurpose room addition on the north side of the high school was enlarged, requiring the classrooms in the planned addition to the south side of the elementary school to be reconfigured. Dart explained that will keep enough space between the elementary and high schools for a pedestrian walkway roughly where Redskin Trail currently is.
The current design of the multipurpose room calls for a competition basketball court, two cross courts, and netting for baseball, softball, and golf practice. But the room will get acoustical treatment, so it could also be used for testing. A new secure visitor entry will be added to the south side of the high school, while the building’s second floor will get significant renovations.
The elementary school addition will include a new cafeteria extending from the existing smaller cafeteria. The other elementary school cafeteria could then become a multipurpose room, replacing the one in the Palmer Wing, which will be torn down.
With the administrative office set to be separated from the elementary school, Dart said the building will get a new roof, soffits, and fascias. New carpets and ceilings are planned for the public areas, and a new mechanical room will be added. New windows, lighting, and additional carpet and ceiling work could also be added, if funding allows.
Secured entries would also be added to the elementary and middle schools, with some renovation work planned for the surrounding areas. Plans for the parking lot south of Culver Road have been updated to better separate pedestrian traffic from vehicles.
