Decorah Jaurnal

Circ: 5648NEWZGROUP

Page: al 09-05-2013

Decorah,IA

IDistrict unveils $20.7 million high school renovation project IBy Lissa Blake

A $20.7 million Decorah HighSchool renovation and expansionproject is on budget and ahead ofschedule,

To highlight the updated fa-cility, the Decorah CommunitySchool District will host a corn-munity open house Sunday, Sept.S, from 1- 3p.1ll.

Sunday's event begins witha ribbon-cutting ce.n=I1lony at12:45 p.m., followe-d by a 1 p.m,

assembly in the auditorium to rec-ognize those people who played aprominent role in the design andcompletion of the project, Begin-ning at 1:15 p.m .. representativesfrom Stru.Xture Architects fromWaterloo, Larson Construction, theDecorah Board of Education andthe administration will be on handto assist in toms and answer ques:-tions.

Maps of the current. building willbe available, and staff, students, theBoard and administrators will be

available to provide informationand perspectives: about. the project.

Refreshments will be served inthe commons area.

Community visi.onThe project. has: taken just over

t.wo years to complete and will befinished four months earlier dumexpected, with the exception ofa small punch list. and some land-scaplllg.

Decorah Superintendent MikeHaluska is quick to acknowledge

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•Decorah Jaurnal

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the commitment from the people ofDecorah.

"I want to say thank yon to ourpatrons (residents) for having faithin us to create the best possible edu-cational environment for our youngpeople we could;' he said,

Haluska said he thinks of fund-ing for the project as <1 three-leggedstool.

"It was paid for through thecombination of a $10.4 million vot-er-approved bond issue, renewal ofthe $134 (per thousand dollars of

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Decorah,IA

and the dollars saved will be im-pressive," said Haluska.

Haluska explained "ViUI regardto the building's carbon footprint,the new heating, ventilating andcooling systems will be able to op-erate at a combined cost that is low-er than the school's current heatingsystem by itself,

"It's a geothenl1Ztl hybrid sys-tem," explained Schaller.

SchoolContinued on page A-2

taxable valuation) Physical Plantand Equipment Levy (PPEL) andour portion of our statewide penny(sales. tax)," said Haluska.

InnovationsHaluska and Building and

Grounds Director Greg Schallersaid there are many ecological andeducational improvements. whichwill. be realized as a result of therenovations.

"From an ecological standpoint,the difference we'll be able to make

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•Decorah Jaurnal

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High School

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Decorah,IA

09-05-2013

Continued from front page

Schaller said the new system is setup to be able to "transfer loads"from one system to another whenneeded.

"Last year, the motor went onton the well (used to provide waterto the geothermal system). Whilethe motor was coming. we wereable to use the heat produced onthe geo-loop from the compressoron the freezer and walk-in cooler toheat the office area.

Schaller said Decorah HighSchool is home to the second larg-est hybrid heilting and cooling sys-tem in the nation

Haluska said while the Districtis in preliminary talks about even-tually adding some solar panels togenerate electricity, the recentlycompleted renovations are alreadyhelping with the District's lighting.

"There are solartubes (roundskylight rubes) in the hallway andintenor classrooms." explainedSchaller.

He said light meters have beeninstalled in the hallways and onsunny days, they shut off the lights

"We're harvesting natural light-ing and we really don't need thelights on in many of classroomson nice, sunny clays. It's helping ushold down am lighting bill," saidSchaller.

Haluska added when studentsare exposed to natural light, it cre-ates a better learning environmentand they perform higher than stu-dents in artificial light

Most of the windows in thebuilding have also been replacedwith high efficiency ones.

SecurityOther enhancements include

86 cameras inside and outside thebuilding

"There will be keyless accessfor staff and every exterior door hasone camera facing the doorway andanother direction, If anyone is 1.0break in at night, there are infraredcapabilities. You're gDing to be ableto track that person on camera,"said Haluska.

At 8:30 a.m. each moming. theexterior doors to the building arelocked, with the exception of thefront door. which funnels visitorsinto the office.

Design lolutionsMarla Klocke,

Design Coordinator

"Specializing in Kitchen& Bath Design,both new and

remodel projects."

Haluska said the school's newtornado-safe spaces, comprised ofb0t11 locker rooms. the locker roomhallway and weight room, hold"capacity of 1,200 people and arebuilt to withstand an F-5 tornado

TechnologyHaluska said the level of tech-

nology and the degree to which thebuilding is wired is gOlllg to allowthe District. to make a variety oftechnological upgrades which willlast for some time.

"111e use of fiber optics shouldbe able to cany our telephone, com-puter and TV technology for manyyears," said Haluska

He said the school will have the"technology backbone" and hard-ware to allow for every' individualin the building to have his 01" herown wireless device.

He said he can foresee a timewhen instead of carrying 40-lbbackpacks, students will have all oftheir textbooks digitally loaded on awireless device.

"That's why it was so importantfor us to have the infrastructure inplace to allow that," said Haluska.

He also mentioned the upgrad-ing of technology in the ICN (IowaCommunications Network) room.which is located at the front of theschool and can be locked off fromthe rest of the building

"It's used by the public for any-thing from continuing education formu-ses and realtors to COUlt cases.professional training, video confer-encing and remote teaching oppor-rnuiries.

"There are also times when youhave a small school that doesn'toffer calculus all an annual basis.and we could easily offer calculuscourses, which could be purchasedby other schools," he said

Life skillsAnother classroom which has

been upgraded significillltly to ben-efit a greater number of students islife skills.

TIle state-of-the-art area in-cludes a functioning kitchen andwasher and dryer.

Haluska said these will enhancestudents' abilities to leanl the skillsthey need to be independent in so-

ciety."We have the opportunity to

provide that education in a way wesimply didn't before," said Halus-ka.

Other advantagesHaluska said additional im-

provements include separate or-chestra and vocal rooms. 35 addi-tional parking spaces, a greenhouseand more.

With regard to the decor. Ha-luska said "\Ve wanted to be surewe created a building that was. ira sense. timeless. S0 we went wirlneutral color schemes and eartltones."

Haluska said in addition. theyworked with HON Manufacturingin Muscatine to purchase furniturefor students and teachers that carriewith a lifetime WalTanty.

He said all of the contractors ansubcontractors were outstanding towork with.

"Larson's (the general contrac-tor from Independence) will bethe first to tell you this has gone assmoothly as any job they've doneof this size," said Haluska.

Local contractors on the projecinclude Perry Novak Electric, Berg:Construction. Storey KenworthyCasper Plumbing and HeatingCalmar Manufacturing, Roger'sLock and Key, Singing HammersConstruction. Vollmer Electric anLB Masonry.

Other contractors on the proj-ect i.nclude Midwest Glazingof Grimes; Pro-Foamers , Inc. aGreen Bay, Wis.; Service RoofingCo. of Waterloo. SGH of Urban-dale: La Crosse Overhead Doors aLa Crosse, Wis.: EJ. TelTaZZOanTile, Inc. of Glidden; CommerciaFlooring Co. of Dubuque; BK TileInc. of Cedar Falls; ASI of Grinnell,\Venger of Owatonna, Minn.; JonesLibrary Sales of Carlisle: SPOl1SCan of SI. Louis, Mo.; Dakrronicsof Brookings, S.D.; Holland Con-tracting of Forest City; Seating anAthletic Facility Enterprises. LLCof Ellendale, Minn.: Custom Enter-prises of Burnsville, Minn.; NexusCorporation of Northglenn. Colo.;Lane-Aire Manufacturing Corp.of Carson, Calif.; Doors Inc. aSwaledale: Newline of Plano. Tex-as; EPea of Council Bluffs; Alpalof Minneapolis. Mitlll.; MedinaC01l3tmction Sales, Inc. of MeditlaMinn.; Johnson Specialty Sales aDes Moitles; Huntco Supply LLCof Portland, Ore.; and MidwestAutomatic Fit'e Sprinkler of DesMoines.

"111al11::you to all of the contrac-tors and to all of OlU patrons," hesaid.

"Vie talk "bont Decorall being:such an outstanding community.Our patrons really were \"'illing toput theit· money on the Illle," saiHaluska.

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Decorah,IA

Page: al 09-05-2013

Clockwise from top left: A new computerlab; the weight room; the newly revampedmain entrance; a view into the new com-mons area/lunchroom; one of the lockerrooms that can serve as a tornado-saferoom, built to withstand an F-5 tornado.

(Photos by Rick Fromm and Lissa Blake)

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County: Winneshiek