Over the last two weeks, the topic on many people’s minds in the Perry School District has been the new Industrial Technology facility and wrestling room.

The Perry School Board discussed the project at their regular session on October 8th, as well as in a special session October 15th. Superintendent Clark Wicks says there’s been some concerns regarding the costs for the project, which has been estimated at $6 million. However, Wicks says the total is currently up in the air. “Well right now, it’s at the stage where we’re starting to look at the plans. So we got the overview, they (the Board) started to look at the floor plans a little bit. But there’s still fine-tuning, and we haven’t quite come up with that exact cost yet, because the plans are still getting tweaked just a little bit.”

To help the plans move ahead and hopefully keep the costs down, the District may elect to hire a construction manager. One potential CM, Carl A. Nelson & Company, recently gave a presentation to the Board on the benefits of such an arrangement. Following the presentation, the Board felt confident they will enlist the services of a CM, but they will do their due diligence before selecting one.

The end result of all the recent activity on the project is that the impending bond issue vote will need to be pushed back. In order to get a special election for December 11th, the District needed to have their ballot and petition language set this month. However, given all the factors that still require their attention, the Board decided to give themselves more time. They will instead shoot for a bond vote in February of 2019. Wicks adds, the project is exciting and needed for the school, as even though the Industrial Tech and wrestling programs have thrived for years, the District feels they deserve the best possible facilities.