New Beavercreek school comes in under budget


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When the Jacob Coy Middle School and Trebein Elementary School open Aug. 20, students, teachers, parents and taxpayers will be getting technology-advanced buildings that will save an estimated $198,000 a year in energy costs, according to school district officials.

The buildings also came in $1 million under budget.

“We were able to accomplish that by drawing up tight (building) specifications and took advantage of a very good bidding climate,” said Superintendent Bill McGlothlin during a Wednesday tour of the combined buildings. The building cost $152 per square foot; the benchmark for school construction in Ohio is $184 a square foot, he said.

The $42 million elementary and middle schools are under one roof, but separated by locked doors.

“We want both schools to have an elementary and middle school experience,” said Lisa Walk, Trebein principal. The schools will share kitchen, heating and cooling, and technology infrastructures.

One major cost-saver is the geothermal heating and cooling system. Jeff Parker of SHP, the building’s architect, said standard school buildings generally take $2 per square foot to heat and cool. That cost for the Coy/Trebein building are expected to be $1.25 a square foot. At 265,000 square feet, that comes to $198,000.

Because the district chose to build with local money rather than the state picking up a small portion of the costs, the district — with the help of teachers, residents and the architect — were able to design a building that fit the district’s needs.

“This building exceeds state standards across the board in technology and appointments and gives the district what it needs,” Parker said, pointing out that one of the deviations from state standards was the number of staff offices. “There are fewer than if the district used state money,” he said.

Taxpayers approved an $84 million bond issue in 2008 for construction. Besides the new Coy/Trebein complex, the money has been spent to upgrade and renovate the district’s eight other schools. Those renovations make those buildings more energy efficient and more secure, McGlothlin said. Those renovations also are running about $1 million under budget

The middle school was built for 1,150 students, 100 more than will show up for the first day of school. Trebein will have 650 students on opening day, with capacity for 100 more.

The complex will hold an open house/dedication Sept. 22 at 2 p.m. for the public.

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