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Show School District Building Program Explained; Bond Election July 12 The citizens of the North Sanpete School District will be asked to decide whether the Board of Education will construct con-struct two gymnasiums and carry on a renovation program with its old school buildings The School Board is planning a bond election for Tuesday, July 12, 194!). The bond issue will be for 213,000. The need for additional school buildings has long been realized by the people and the Board of Education of the North Sanpete School District; in fact, this district is in much the same position as school districts all over the United States. During the thirties the depression was on and it was very difficult to obtain the extra money to build school buildings, and just after the depression years we went into a war that made it impossible impos-sible to obtain materials and labor. Consequently, there has been a backlog of school building build-ing work for the past decade. North Sanpete, however, has never been in such a favorable position for beginning new construction con-struction as they are at the present pres-ent time. Out Of Debt Within the last two years, the Board has paid off the last of 208,000 worth of bonds and has in addition accumulated in the form of a building reserve around 550,000 to begin this new construction. This building reserve re-serve fund has been accumulated by setting aside money for this purpose during the years. 270 Money Available Money is available at this time at a very cheap rate of interest. I After contacting several sev-eral bonding companies, the Board of Education found that it is able to obtain money should the people see fit to approve the bond issue for 2 interest. This is exceptionally low as interest ordinarily runs, because even some of the larger school districts dis-tricts in the state are paying 2'4 and 2M. The last group of bonds that we sold a decade or so ago carried a 4 3-4Tr rate of interest. Paid Off In Ten Years It will be possible for this money to be paid back within ten years. With the low rate of interest and the relatively short-term short-term bonds, the total amount of interest is consequently very low, for the use of this money over a ten-year period, the interest win be in the neighborhood or 25,000. When the last major building program was carried on in 1920, a similar amount was borrowed, and during the 27 years that the district was repaying re-paying this money, it also had to pay $13S,000 in interest. For those people who are taxpayers tax-payers in the district, this is a significant item, because even though they will be requred to pay one cr two additional mills as a result of these short-term bonds, it will save the taxpayers in the neighborhood of $100,000. This is money that ordinarily goes to people who are purchasing purchas-ing the bonds and does not benefit ben-efit the school district or the taxpayers. The School Board has spent some time studying this policy of financing and the members were unanimous in their belief that this would be a more wise decision to make for the people of North Sanpete. While it is true that building construction is much higher than it was ten or fifteen years ago. there is nothing on the horizon to indicate that building costs will go down immediately The backlog of building construction is so great and . labor costs - so high that it is likely to be five to ten years before significant changes are made. Good Bonding History The North Sanpete School District Dis-trict has a good bonding history. It has consistently, through good and bad times, discharged its debts. It is largely because of this record that it is able to obtain money at such a reasonable reas-onable rate of interest. Another reason why the Board felt that the people of North Sanpete would desire a short-term bonding bond-ing program is so that they would be in a position at the end of this time to go ahead with some of their other building problems, if the people and the board at that time so desire. Gymnasiums Needed Nowhere in the School District is the building need more dramatically dra-matically apparent than in the need for gymnasiums. The gymnasiums gym-nasiums have always been too small, and the dressing rooms, locker rooms, and equipment have been inadequate. The basketball bas-ketball courts have been far below be-low standard size, and they have not been adequate in taking care of the seating. This has made it necessary for the North Sanpete high school to make special arrangements for the Armory building during the winter win-ter months. Since the war, the National Guard Unit has been expanding and receiving additional addi-tional facilities, and it has not only made it inconvenient, but at times impossible, to have this building available. At other times it has been necessary for th Nnrth Rannptp hifyh school to use the facilities of the Wasatch Was-atch Academy. What has been said of the North Sanpete high school is equally true of the Moroni high school, except that their playing court is even smaller, the seating capacity is less, and the possibilities possi-bilities of using other gymnasiums gymnas-iums for the purpose of athletics are more remote. Last winter it was necessary that they play two of their games away from home because of the inadequate gymnasium facilities. Gyms To Be Large The Board of Education is definitely def-initely not going to underestimate underesti-mate the future needs so far as seating capacity and gym sizes are concerned. If the bonds are voted favorably, the plans are to have the gymnasium at Moroni Mo-roni built with a seating capacity capac-ity of 1,000 and the gymnasium at Mt. Pleasant, with a seating capacity of 1,500 people, with standard-sized playing courts in both. The buildings will be designed de-signed to be structurally sound. Moroni Special Contributors The people of Moroni are making special contributions toward the Moroni gymnasium through ' money contributions and labor up to $20,000. This amount is helping materially to make possible the two gymnasiums gymnas-iums The plan is to have the Moroni high school gymnasium located just south of the present Seminary Semin-ary building. The outside of the building is to be of brick construction, while the inside will be of cement block construction, con-struction, after the plan of the new Valley Junior high school gymnasium in the Granite School District. The plan is to erect the North Sanpete gymnasium just south of the present high school building build-ing using part of the old tennis court and projecting west from the front of the school building about thirty feet. One of the important reasons for constructing new gymnasiums, gymnas-iums, aside from the fact that we are badly in need of gymnasiums, gym-nasiums, is to eventually make more room for other departments within the walls of the senior high schools; such as adequate libraries, music rooms, and storage stor-age space, etc. Remodeling of Old Structures I These departments are inadequate inade-quate in the present high schools, and with minimum construction con-struction work we can remodel these buildings and have some effective departments. It should be said at this time that the School Board has had a thorough examination made of all their present school buildings build-ings by a construction engineer Howard Barker, of Salt Lake City He has indicated that our present buildings are all structurally struc-turally sound so far as foundations, founda-tions, walls, and beams are concerned. The only exceptions to this would be that he has recommended that we re-wire and relight our buildings, and in several places we have thought of installing additional fire escapes. . . The Board began this re-wiring and re-lighting job a year ago when they re-wired the Spring City Elementary, the Fountain Green Elementary, and the Mt. Pleasant Elementary. This program pro-gram must be continued until the re-wiring and re-lifting has been taken care of in all the buildings. In addition, each building should be gone over with the idea of re-roofing, re-plasterin? re-painting, checking our heating heat-ing systems, and insulating our ! windows where necessary. The Board plans at the present pres-ent time to construct the two gymnasiums and, within the next five to ten years, take care of the more urgent needs on all buildings as indicated above. The Board of Education invites the taxpayers and the people of North Sanpete to study over this proposal and indicate their desires de-sires at the polls on July 12, 1949. |