Summer School: Extensive construction is well underway

June 14, 2017 hhnews207 News 0

TAHS Supt. Chad Anderson looks over the construction in the women’s restroom near the school’s gymnasium. Cracked pipes that resulted in a strong sewer smell were uncovered during the process.
The extensive re-roofing work at the high school is the largest of many construction projects there this summer. Laraway roofing of New Ulm and Hutchinson has been working at the school since the first of June. Laraway is using this large crane to transport materials to and from the roof.

By Per Peterson

If you’re wondering where your tax dollars are going in relation to the last time a bond referendum took place in Tracy, take a quick tour of the high school and you’ll see exactly how that money is being spent.
The high school is currently a construction zone with a to-do list that covers a half sheet of paper and taxpayer money is fitting the bill on the biggest project — new roofing.
Besides work done on the outside the last few years — the new track, new sidewalks and a newly-paved parking lot, capital operating levy dollars are being used to complete the last phase of new roofing — over the kitchen, ag shop, band and choir rooms and boys’ locker room .
Also at the high school, new LED lights are being installed virtually everywhere, and a bathroom has been gutted. Also, a new volleyball practice net system will be installed in the gym, where the floor will be refinished sometime next month. Cracks in the parking lot asphalt will be repaired and all the sewer lines have been jetted out.
Add all those things to regular cleaning and maintenance at all buildings — carpets, floors, walls, desks, furniture — and it makes for a busy summer for buildings that you would normally think would be somewhat empty and quiet for at least a couple summer months.
“It’s been three years since we really rolled up our sleeves and made up for lost time on some of the things that had been neglected — the parking lots, the track, windows,” Tracy Area High School Supt. Chad Anderson said. “We caught up on all of those things and from there on out it’s been regular, yearly maintenance we’re keeping up on. I always compare it to your home: If you have a new home, odds are you don’t have as many issues that you’ve got to take care of every year, but if you’ve got a home that’s 100 years old, every year it’s going to be more things you have to do.”
The price tag of the LED lights came in at $142,200, with an estimated $38,850 in rebates, making the final tally $103,3350.

 

For more on this article, see this week’s Headlight-Herald.