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New school addition open in Tampico
By DAVID GIULIANI
Monday, August 6, 2012
Copyrighted by Sauk Valley News
TAMPICO – Voters in the Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico school district twice rejected referendums seeking taxpayer money to pay for additions to schools.
But the district didn’t give up. In 2010, officials found another source: The state gave more than $14 million of the $18.9 million needed for two construction projects.
No referendum was needed.
On Sunday, district officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the completion of the majority of the first project at Tampico Middle School – an addition of a dozen classrooms.
Beforehand, a number of officials spoke before a crowd inside the older part of the school.
In 2009, Superintendent David Rogers told the school board that a state agency was revisiting the district’s request for construction money.
“He felt that we had a good chance to receive the funds for two building projects,” said Jill Ringenberg, the school board’s president.
But many residents and board members doubted the possibility of success, she said, thinking the district had little chance to get the money after being placed 27th on the list.
In October 2010, Ringenberg said, the state deemed the projects “shovel ready.”
She noted that the first project, which started last year, ran on average 10 to 12 weeks ahead of schedule.
“Mother Nature did, of course, help in many ways,” but architect Mark Miller and the construction management firm, Gilbane Building Co., contributed to the project going well, Ringenberg said.
The second project – an addition to the high school – started late last year and should be completed by mid-2013, officials say.
After the speeches, officials were given gold-colored scissors to cut the ceremonial ribbon. Doug Wetzel, the board’s vice president and a 36-year board member, stood in the center, holding an oversized pair of scissors.
After the ceremony, residents poured into the building to look at the carpeted classrooms, already stocked with new desks. Even a computer lab was ready to go for Aug. 20, the first day of school.
Many commented on the “new school smell.” On one side of the addition is a cornfield, which will give students a close-up view of a pivot irrigation system.
For the next year, Tampico Middle School students will continue to use the site. After that, it will be the site of Tampico Elementary School, which may be renamed in honor of Ronald Reagan.
During the open house, a small girl sat in the front row of a classroom.
“You’ll be in this classroom when you’re in second grade,” a young boy told her.
After this school year, the current Tampico Elementary School, built more than 70 years ago, will be closed. The site of the current middle school will have preschool through fourth grade, with districtwide fifth grade.
The middle school students will be moved to Prophetstown High School, which will be converted to a regional school for sixth through 12th grades. The district is adding 17 classrooms to the high school, among other improvements.
The school board has yet to determine what to do with the elementary school.
The Tampico Middle School project is not completely done, the superintendent said. The contractor will build two more classrooms and a playground, likely to be done by fall, he said.
