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For four schools, a new look Mail Tribune/Bob Pennell Workers are installing new windows at Rogue River Elementary School as part of $5.3 million in improvements at four district schools: Rogue River Elementary, Evans Valley Elementary and the district's middle and high schools. Rogue River Superintendent Charles Hellman says work at some of the schools will take place when students are back in the fall, potentially disrupting classes. By DAMIAN MANN ROGUE RIVER - It might seem like a fortune, but every penny of a $5.3 million bond will be needed to repair this community's four aging schools. Workers are sprucing up 50-year-old Rogue River Elementary School with new windows and new bathrooms before students return in September. They have begun preliminary work at the middle and high schools to pave the way for larger projects that should be finished next year. Work at the fourth school, Evans Valley Elementary, has yet to begin. The 1,200-student Rogue River School District is one of four school systems in Jackson County that is undertaking major construction projects after voters approved a spate of bond measures last year. Other districts - Phoenix-Talent, Central Point and Eagle Point - are also gearing up for projects paid through property taxes. This summer, Rogue River Elementary will be remodeled, getting $200,000 worth of new windows, new bathrooms and electrical systems. The school will wait until next summer before resurfacing the asphalt playground that has buckled and cracked. Altogether, the elementary school will receive about $465,000 in improvements. Workers have been removing asbestos from the interior of the 62-year-old Rogue River Middle School and are preparing the rear playground for a new basketball court. Almost $1.9 million in improvements will be made at the school, ranging from the addition of a six-classroom annex for sixth-graders to expansion of the library and media center. Superintendent Charles Hellman said most of the middle school construction will take place during the school year, which could prove disruptive at times for students. "It's a challenge to go through a repair process," he said. But after all the improvements are made at the four schools, Hellman anticipates the district should realize a reduction in maintenance costs. At the 25-year-old high school, crews are working on a new drain system to help with runoff from a new roof. The gym floor also will be replaced before the school year begins. But most of the $2 million in improvements won't get started until later. The high school also will get a new heating and ventilation system, student cafeteria, an upgraded fire alarm system and other improvements. Originally, the district wanted to install a sloping metal roof to replace the existing flat roof. But, school board chairman Dick Handbury said the roofing project has been placed on hold because the costs for a metal roof have exceeded original budget estimates. The school district also hasn't finalized a time table for $700,000 of improvements to Evans Valley Elementary School. Handbury said the district failed to receive two other bond measures, the first at $15 million, the second less than $12 million. As a result, the schools will not get all the improvements they need, he said. Handbury believes most of the work will take about a year. "By next September, we should pretty well have it wrapped up," he said. Reach reporter Damian Mann at 776-4476, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.