Energy saving projects
Several building upgrades
scheduled for Prairie du Chien School District
The Prairie du Chien Public School District is in the process of doing a number of small projects across the district that will result in the avoidance of, or reduction in, energy costs or operational costs.
One of the main projects that will be easily seen is a separate clay/ceramics room for the high school art department. This will be a well-needed upgrade as currently there is no “clean” art area and the remnants of the ceramics process covers everything in the art room and even gets tracked out into the school hallways. After completion of this project, the ceramics education and associated processes will all be housed in a separate room. As part of the plan, a second kiln will be added and there will be updates to the ceramics kilns to make them safer. Plus, an updated venting system will be installed to guard against any air quality issues. Plumbing will be upgraded to handle the clay loads and there will be a floor drain added in the clay area so the room can be hosed down for additional cleanliness and safety.
Art Teacher Lynn Larson is excited to see the ideas actually take place. She now has had to fire late into the evenings, very early in the morning, plus on weekends to keep up with the many student projects that need to be fired in the kilns. She said, “The second kiln and the updated classroom are greatly appreciated, it will be a better environment to help kids achieve.”
The second project that will be very noticeable will be an upgrade within the high school kitchen area. Donna Heilmann and her staff cooks have done a great job incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables into the nutrition program across the district. The high school has a full salad bar available every day for students. One problem with those changes is that the high school kitchen was not designed to prepare these types of fresh meal choices on-site. To accommodate the upgraded menus, the serving area will be bumped out a few feet to allow for a nice preparation island area and a set of double sinks for washing fresh foods. Cook Pat Bender said, “We are excited. It will make the kitchen much more efficient.”
Two new steamer oven units will be installed to assist with food preparation. Cook Melissa Pittsley said, “The changes will allow us to do more and offer more produce and vegetables.” A dry goods storage area will be added across the hall from the kitchen to get food storage out of the dish washing area. In addition, the kitchen project will correct some major safety issues as the current kitchen hoods are too small with inadequate air circulation and there is no fire suppression. Fire Chief Harry Remz has pointed out this safety problem on his school safety inspections and has asked for a correction.
There also are a number of infrastructure projects that are less noticeable, but arguably even more important to maintain the school buildings. There will be two more chunks of roofing done; one section at the high school and one at BA Kennedy to keep up with roofing replacement plan and to add to the roof insulation values. Head HS and BAK Custodian Luke Lucas stated, “We have a lot of roof area and we need to be constantly monitoring to stay ahead of problems.” Ceiling updates with energy efficient lighting upgrades will be completed in a couple of Bluff View classrooms. Bluff View Head Custodian Jim Stoehr commented, “The two classroom updates will be greatly appreciated as it will substantially lower the cubic feet of heating area. But, mostly it will improve the classroom acoustics. The teachers in those rooms have a hard time with background noise issues.” Plus, multiple plumbing and heating system upgrades are slated that will save future dollars.
John Heck from CESA 10 is the Project Manager through the Statewide Facilities Management Program. District Administrator Drew Johnson stated that he has “immense appreciation for all the work that is being done for the district under this program, as there is no possible way that these needed projects could be done out of the regular funds. All of these projects will be completed over two school fiscal years without any borrowing by the school district.” The cost of the projects for 2014-2015 is $535,000.