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Show Remodeling in the bag, Kendell says By DONETA GATHERUM Staff Writer KAYS VILLE "This auditorium is a major priority. Remodeling is in the bag," Superintendent of Davis County Schools, Richard Kendell, told 75 parents and students last Wednesday evening. The superintendent was speaking of the Davis High School auditorium, the smallest and oldest auditorium facility in any county high school. Parents and students who heard this commitment commit-ment were not pleased with the thought of putting put-ting $350,000 into an auditorium with a seating capacity of 957 for a studentbody of 1,800. The results of survey forms distributed to the people attending the meeting indicated that 66 percent preferred expansion of the auditorium within the next two years using district funds over remodeling remodel-ing the existing facility. After hearing the thoughts of the parents, Kendell promised to look at the cost and feasibility of expansion. The question of what should be done with the Davis High School auditorium came to the surface sur-face about a month ago when a group of about 12 parents met to discuss the future of the school auditorium that was constructed in the mid-1950s mid-1950s and has had little renovation or remodeling remodel-ing since it was first built. Pat McBride, a committee com-mittee member, contacted Kendell, who responded almost immediately with an offer to attend the Wednesday evening citizen meeting to explain the financial situation of Davis County Coun-ty School District and to offer the remodeling proposal. Kendell told the parents, "Davis County has the fourth highest property tax rate in the state. In terms of number of new students, we are the fastest growing in the state. The district has $102.5 million worth of bonded indebtedness. This amount will increase to $114.5 million this spring. The next largest governmental debt in the state is the state of Utah with $93 million. I am uncomfortable with the level of debt in this school district." The superintendent concluded that the district had reserved funds from the $40 million 1989 bond election to remodel the auditorium. He said he just didn't know where additional funds other than those ear-marked for renovation could be secured. "There are genuine, critical needs in every school building in this district," the superintendent said. Mary Pettingill, another member of the parent committee, presented three possible auditorium options to the superintendent and the parents in attendance at the meeting. The first was remodeling. She explained this wouldn't offer a solution to the problem. "We would still have to offer two assemblies on a split schedule. There , would still be problems with a small stage, no dressing rooms and a limited number of students who could be involved in stage productions," Pettingill said. The second proposal developed by the com mittee was to expand the existing auditorium to the north. This would mean that 300 South, a public thoroughfare, would have to be permanently per-manently closed. The third option was to build a free-standing new auditorium with some financing coming from the DATC, Kaysville City and private donations. do-nations. As the meeting progressed, the parents and the superintendent eliminated the third option. Kendell's reaction to the auditorium expansion expan-sion plan was cautious. "Expansion at this time is an unknown," the superintendent said. He talked about financing, the problem of closing a public street and the hidden costs that might be encountered when you started tearing into an ! older structure and into a street where utility lines are buried. Kaysville Mayor Brit Howard, who was in attendance at-tendance at the meeting, said the city staff would immediately begin looking at closing the street "If this expansion plan is adopted, the closing procedure could be accomplished in a month," the mayor said. At the conclusion of the meeting, Kendell said the district would look at the cost and feasibility of expansion. This would take from 60 to 90 days. "By Oct. 1, the district will know if there is any money available for expansion by shifting money ear-marked for other projects into this one," the superintendent stated. "If this seems the best plan to adopt, we'll see what money can be shaken loose from the bond issue. ' j i |