Independent School moves forward with campus improvement plan

The Independent School is moving forward with its capital improvement plan despite recent bids for a press box and concession stand that came in well over projections, school officials said.

“That one (bid) came in over, but there’s no talk of delay,” said Milt Dougherty, head of school at Independent, a private school in east Wichita. “It’s all part of a bigger project and will be finished.”

He said the press box project had been redesigned after the initial projections, so “some of that (higher price) was to be expected.”

School officials last year launched a multi-year, $6.5 million fundraising campaign and began building a sports complex that includes an artificial turf football and soccer field and an eight-lane track.

The field and track were completed ahead of schedule, Dougherty said. But bids for part of the complex – a press box, concession stand, school store and additional bleachers – came in over budget and will not be done this year.

“Of course we would have liked to have had it done. … But it’s a relatively small part of the overall project,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff going on. It’s a big plan, a multi-year plan, and we’re still moving forward on all these projects.”

Besides the athletic complex, projects planned for the first phase of Independent’s “master campus plan” include a media resource center, classroom upgrades, additional space for drama programs and an LED sign at the campus entrance. Future phases of the plan call for a new multi-purpose building, a practice gym for the Lower School and a performing arts center.

“In order to spend our money as wisely as possible, we’re negotiating with contractors on how do we get the things done that we want to get done,” Dougherty said. “So it’s a long process.”

He said the school received bids for the media resource center this week, and a committee is reviewing them and selecting a contractor.

Meanwhile, “there’s a lot of stuff being done that isn’t as visible” as the sports complex or major construction projects, he said. Paint, carpeting and stairways have been refreshed or upgraded and some classrooms moved to make way for the new library and media resource center, he said.

“We are moving forward … and hope to have something to report relatively soon,” Dougherty said.

Independent, 8317 E. Douglas, was founded in 1980 and currently enrolls 529 children in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. Prior to the new football field, its last major construction project was a new middle school that opened in 1999.

This story was originally published September 12, 2014 at 6:26 AM with the headline "Independent School moves forward with campus improvement plan."