Northeast Dubois discusses $1.75 million in site work and repairs to damaged gymnasium

While water mitigation is the goal of the majority of improvements suggested for the Northeast Intermediate School, the school corporation plans on repairing the damages to the gym.

NE Intermediate school was damaged and closed after a tremendous deluge of rain overpowered drainage in Dubois. Subsequently, the corporation closed the gym and cafeteria as assessments were completed to determine the building’s fitness for use. The damage to the gymnasium rendered it unusable for activities.

In February, the school board heard recommendations to fill the basement of the gym and either raze it with plans to build new or modify the existing structure to improve its usability and accessibility. However, based on early estimates, the board decided these options were too costly.

At Tuesday evening’s regular board meeting, Schmidt Associates presented plans to improve the site drainage as well as repair the gymnasium.

Allen Jacobsen, a civil engineer with the group, explained their recommendations.

In regards to the water mitigation, Jacobsen outlined plans that called for removing the ramp leading to the basement of the gymnasium on the north side of the building. They would close the entryway as well to prevent water incursion in the future. Additionally, while the work was underway and the basement wall was exposed, he recommended waterproofing it as well.

To create a flow path for water in the future, the north parking lot would be lowered below grade by about 18 inches bringing the parking lot below the finish floor of the gymnasium. The west parking lot would be expanded and also be lowered. These parking lot improvements will create 56 new parking spots.

“The reason we are doing this is so that water does not have a chance to accumulate on the north side of the building,” Jacobsen explained. “That was what was observed during the flood.”

According to Jacobsen, the improvements would also change the primary path of the water draining from the northeast from under the notch between the gym and school to the parking lot. To help with the routing, a retaining wall will need to be constructed on the north part of the school property to direct water into the new path.

Jacobsen also recommended they make improvements to the drainage inlets near the softball field and add additional inlets along the path through the existing storm sewer drainage.

Jacobsen noted in their study they found the capacity of the storm sewer along Vine Street was lower than the capacity of the line going through the school property. He said that in the rain event last August, the capacity of the Vine Street storm sewer was surpassed before the line through the school property. As an alternative, he recommended the storm sewer be improved and enlarged.

In describing the design recommendation, Jacobsen noted they typically plan for a 100-year rain event. “We all know that the storm that flooded your building was more on the order of a thousand-year storm,” he said.

In regards to repairing the gymnasium, Schmidt Associates recommended the corporation upgrade the joists under the gymnasium floor. The current construction has the joists spaced two feet apart. This can cause the floor to sag so they would like to add joists between the existing joists creating a one-foot span.

Along with presenting this plan to the board, Schmidt Associates reported the estimate for the work for the water mitigation and repair of the gymnasium is about $1.75 million. Since the majority of the work is to prevent flooding issues on the school property, it is not covered by insurance. The corporation will consider taking on debt service to pay for it. That issue will be discussed at the next board meeting in June.

Insurance does cover the repair of the kitchen and replacement of equipment which is estimated to be about $750,000.

An alternative estimate for the Vine Street drainage upgrade was included in the presentation. It came out to about $319,000.

The next Northeast Dubois County School Board meeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 21, 2022. It can be viewed on the corporation’s Facebook Page.