Wichita school board to consider Robinson Middle School bond project Monday

Seven years after voters approved a $370 million bond issue for Wichita schools, board members will vote on the final bond project – a new auditorium and gym for Robinson Middle School – on Monday.

The board will consider a $5 million contract with Sauerwein Construction to build an 800-seat auditorium, practice gym and storm shelter at Robinson, at Second and Oliver.

The project has taken more than four years to get to the bid process, as district leaders expanded its scale and then struggled to fund it with dwindling bond money.

The plan calls for using $1.3 million in bond funds and $3.7 million in capital outlay money to fund the project.

“It’s very exciting, and we’re cautiously optimistic that it’s going to go through and we’re going to see the final project out there,” said Robinson principal Amy Champlin.

The original plan for Robinson, projected to cost about $2.3 million in 2008, called for a practice gym built as a storm shelter, music classrooms and an auditorium upgrade rather than a new auditorium. In 2011, when the bond issue was running $9 million under budget, board members unanimously approved a more expansive project that included a new, bigger auditorium.

Since then, the district has lost about $14 million in funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and millions more in capital outlay dollars, and construction costs have risen from about $130 per square foot to more than $170 per square foot.

So Robinson still will get its new auditorium and practice gym. But the plan no longer includes transforming the school’s current art deco-style auditorium into band and orchestra teaching space. Nor does it call for additional parking to be added east of the current lot.

“It’s a school with some needs and some space challenges, and trying to get everything to fit … just took a little bit longer than some of the others,” said Bill Faflick, assistant superintendent for secondary schools.

“We’re very pleased to have the final project on the agenda Monday night. … It’s going to be a really nice addition to the school.”

Champlin, the principal, said the school’s fine arts department is “over the moon” about the new auditorium, which will give Robinson’s award-winning music program more room to rehearse and a performance space that will accommodate concert crowds. For the past three years, Robinson band and orchestra concerts have been held at East High School’s auditorium.

“A larger stage and a larger area to work, with state-of-the-art equipment, is going to be a dream come true for them,” Champlin said.

If board members approve the plan Monday, bond managers say it will take about 18 months to complete.

This story was originally published November 8, 2015 at 2:02 PM with the headline "Wichita school board to consider Robinson Middle School bond project Monday."