Tri-Township Schools to Get Second Opinion on LaCrosse High School

Tri-Township school officials are promising to gather more information before moving ahead with a proposal to close the 105-year-old LaCrosse school building.

In a press release last week, Superintendent Kelly Shepherd said that Ratio Architects will complete a rehabilitation assessment of the historic school by the end of the month. The firm has been hired by an organization called People Engaged in Preservation, with funding from local donors and a $3,500 endangered places grant from Indiana Landmarks.

Shepherd also says the school board will work on a plan to gather additional proposals to insure competitive pricing for any building project.

An assessment from design-build firm Performance Services estimates that adding five classrooms to the Wanatah School would cost between $2.7 and $3.5 million, while renovating the LaCrosse building would cost almost $6.6 million. But that doesn’t include any money for maintaining or demolishing the current building if it closes, and it assumes that the LaCrosse Tiger Den would continue to be the main competition gym, even though the rest of the building would close.