Summer construction underway across Lewis Central campuses; board approves $91,000 site-prep for new property

Lewis Central facilities staff on June 16 briefed the board on a broad slate of summer construction and maintenance projects and the board approved a $91,000 contract to prepare newly acquired land for community use.

Facilities staff said work at the high school is proceeding on multiple fronts: a parking-lot project has shown good subgrade results and concrete test samples met strength targets; electricians are rerouting conduit and camera piping ahead of pours; the chiller removal and replacement and roof repairs are in progress; and a fire-alarm replacement is being managed with a temporary monitoring panel to ensure sprinkler events still notify the fire department.

Tennis-court site prep began in the days after the meeting, and lighting upgrades have reached roughly 60–70% completion in one building and are underway in other facilities. Staff said the secure-entrance work referenced in the high-school design review is scheduled to begin after July 1 and run about three weeks for the front entrance; Raptor visitor-management and Genetec camera work are being installed district-wide.

Playground replacements are moving through procurement and staff said crews will sequence work to minimize loss of outdoor time for young students: Kreft playground and then Titan Hill with partial access planned so students have at least one play area when school starts. Staff said Titan Hill paving is in phased work with routing adjustments to preserve drop-off and daycare access.

On athletics, staff explained the district’s ongoing partnership with Iowa Western Community College. The district said it continues to play varsity baseball and softball at Iowa Western’s turf fields to reduce weather cancellations and to provide additional schedule capacity for JV and freshman games; any future moves back to on-site fields could reduce community and youth use of district fields, staff said.

Separately, the board approved a $91,000 bid from Morris Excavating to clear brush, create a retention pond and grade roughly 10–12 acres of newly acquired property so the community can use the site for informal recreation while long-term planning proceeds. Staff said seeding and minimal hard-surfaced parking (6–8 spaces) are expected; additional work on lighting or landscaping will follow later as needed.

Ending: Staff said contractors are on site and the district will continue weekly updates; the board approved the site-prep contract and will review further bids and schedules for remaining projects as they come back for action.