Posted March 28, 200718 yr Ironton to open school project bids on April 24 Key -- 1. Bids on the 1st phase of a new school that would house Ironton Elementary School and Ironton Middle School will be opened on April 24. 1a. The project is estimated to cost $1,312,987. 1b. The schools will be 135,000 sq. ft. and be two separate, two-story buildings. 1c. The cafeteria, administrative offices and library will be combined for both schools. 1d. Site work could be finished by August, with construction beginning in August or September. Work will take two years. 2. Construction of the new Ironton High School won't begin until 2008. The school will be vacated by the end of July 2007 and asbestos abatement will begin, followed by selective demolition. The Conley Center (gym?) and the front entrance will be preserved. Article information: "Ironton to open school project bids on April 24, By David E. Malloy, The Herald-Dispatch, Tuesday, March, 27, 2007" -- Ironton to open school project bids on April 24 By David E. Malloy The Herald-Dispatch Tuesday, March, 27, 2007 IRONTON — Bids on the first phase of a new school to house Ironton Elementary School and Ironton Middle School will be opened April 24, a project estimated to cost $1,312,987. The project includes all the underground utilities for the new schools being built together in North Ironton, Randall Henderson, project manager for BBL Construction Services, said during an Ironton Board of Education meeting Tuesday night at the First Baptist Church. The church will house about 110 sixth-grade students next year while the new schools are under construction. The two schools, about 135,000 square feet, will be located next to each other and have two stories each. The underground utilities being bid in the site work includes water, stormwater, sanitary sewer, gas and electric, Henderson said. The schools will have some common areas including cafeteria, administrative offices and library. The site work could be finished by the end of August, allowing construction to begin on the schools in August or September, he said. The work is expected to take two years. Read more at http://www.herald-dispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070327/NEWS01/70327029/-1/NEWS13
March 28, 200718 yr Just a note... Ironton has an Elementary, Middle, Jr. High, Sr. High format, meaning that "Middle" refers to grades 4,5, and 6, instead of an alternative to a jr. high that seems to be a more common use. Here is the old high school, I believe the plan is to keep the main entrance area that sticks out from the front of the building:
March 28, 200718 yr That's correct. It is sad though that they chose to tear down rather than renovate, which would have kept with the historical character of the building. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places IIRC.
June 12, 200718 yr Architects reveal new designs for Ironton schools Architects reveal new designs for Ironton schools, By Teresa Moore, The Ironton Tribune, June 11, 2007 New elementary school renderings New high school renderings Rendering and floor plans for both Construction update The architects unveiled design plans for the new Ironton High School auditorium, which will share an entry way with the auxiliary gymnasium. The entry way will also double as a cafeteria during school hours. The new auditorium, which will be nearly the same size as the existing one, will feature acoustical panels, dressing rooms, and storage areas. It will have a catwalk for lighting, an orchestra pit, and PVC carpeting. These are all features the existing facility does not have -- plus, air conditioning! Also of note, the Heplar Street entrance (eastern entrance) will be spared from demolition and will be used as decoration in the cafeteria. The existing glass and door will be replaced with mirrors for an "art deco effect." Medallions and urns from the building will be saved and reused in the event entry area. The old ticket booth and clock, in front of the auditorium, will be used in the new school, along with the chandeliers from the old auditorium.
June 12, 200718 yr Elementary: Ugly High School: Not too bad, glad to see them incorporating historic elements.
July 12, 200717 yr Ironton school projects under way By David E. Malloy The Herald-Dispatch July 12, 2007 IRONTON -- Construction is expected to begin this summer for a new, consolidated Ironton Elementary School off Delaware Street in North Ironton. A completion date is scheduled for August 2009, Nance said Tuesday. Demolition bids for sections of the former high school building will go out in July. The front entrance, the Conley Center and Tanks Memorial Stadium all are staying. Work on the high school is scheduled to start March 2008 and the construction could be finished by February 2010, he said. "I think we've done a very good job of keeping the historical look in the new school," Nance said. "We're saving the front entrance. We want to match the color of the brick. We're going to a great extent to keep the tradition and items of historical significance in the new school. We want to provide the best possible learning environment for our kids." "I think it's important that they're keeping some historical aspects to the new school," said Virginia Bryant, an Ironton resident. "I think people who attended the school will appreciate that." The new high school will have three stories, as the original did, along with a new auditorium and a new gymnasium. Since the Conley Center is being retained, the high school will have two gymnasiums. Each of the classrooms in the new high school will have a window and have at least 900 square feet of space, Nance said. Read more at http://www.herald-dispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070712/NEWS01/707120320/-1/NEWS13
November 10, 200717 yr Ironton breaks ground on new schools UPDATE 1 | Photos @ UrbanOhio By DAVID E. MALLOY, Herald-Dispatch, November 9, 2007 IRONTON — The day started cloudy and overcast Friday in Ironton, but turned sunny with temperatures in the 50s by 1 p.m. for the groundbreaking of the new Ironton Middle School and consolidated Ironton Elementary School. As far as Ironton Superintendent Dean Nance was concerned, the way the skies changed resembled the district’s efforts to get a school levy passed. The levy financed the $48 million project that includes three new schools along with keeping the front entrance to the 85-year-old high school building. While every other school district in Lawrence County was able to get new schools, Ironton had to wait its turn. When that time finally came, it took three tries to get the levy passed before the project could start. “This is an unbelievable step for Ironton city schools,” he said Friday afternoon. “In today’s world, school districts need to provide students with every opportunity possible. We’ll be able to do that now. The kids are so excited.”
November 11, 200816 yr This was posted in another thread, but posting here as well... School construction to be complete in 2009 By Teresa Moore, Ironton Tribune, December 8, 2007 Only a few months ago, it looked like any other open field. But where grass once grew, the foundations of the new Ironton elementary and middle schools are starting to take shape. Demolition work is also continuing at the high school in preparing there for the construction of the new facility there. High school students may not be educated within those old brick walls many generations before them loved and learned in, but those old brick walls will still contribute to their education, if only in a subterranean way. Some of the old bricks and concrete are being ground up and used as filler for the foundation. Since the old building was constructed in a sand lot, some of that sand— approximately 10 feet of it— will be dug out and replaced with the crushed bricks and concrete for added stability. Getting it done: The entire $48 million school construction project is scheduled to be completed by 2009.
November 11, 200816 yr Ironton schools coming down By Benita Heath, Ironton Tribune, January 21, 2008 It was 1922 — a year of firsts. The seal of King Tut’s tomb was broken. The first edition of Reader’s Digest hit the news stands. Columbus’s own Mary Katherine Campbell became the first high school graduate to become Miss America. The Hollywood Bowl opened. And so did Ironton High School. Eighty-six years later, the stately grande dame of classical architecture is coming down. Since fall, crews with J&H Reinforcing and Structural Erectors have cordoned off sections of the landscaped grounds to protect onlookers as a demolition ball pounds away at the seemingly invincible brick structure. Now it is a staccato of crack, crumble and pop as debris scatters everywhere. Soon a new school will rise. But until then, Ironton High grads, no matter what the year, watch and remember. The cost to tear down the old school: $1,750,000. Memories of it: Priceless.
November 11, 200816 yr Progress being made at Ironton schools By Teresa Moore, The Tribune, October 14, 2008 Robert Workman of Wheelersburg stopped his truck at the edge of the new Ironton High School construction site and snapped a quick photograph. “I went here from 1938 to 1942,” he explained, glancing at what is left of the old high school and the new facility being built around it. Already work is under way to join the old and the new sections, the new part being accommodations for the future and the old being preservation of part of the city’s cherished past. “I come by here all the time and I came by today because I remembered to bring a camera.”
August 12, 200915 yr Going once, going twice ... NOT SOLD Only one bid received on auction of five city school buildings By Jim Sullivan, The Tribune, July 7, 2009 IRONTON — Following five weeks of speculation, guesswork, hearsay and even a little politics, the much anticipated Ironton City School building auction concluded with a single bid on only one building. In total, only one of the five eligible buildings fell under the hammer on Monday. That school, West Ironton Elementary, garnered the accepted minimum bid of $62,500. Auction rules mandated minimum bids be 50 percent of the building’s appraised value. West Ironton was appraised at $125,000.
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