SERGEANT BLUFF, Iowa (KCAU) -- Since 1958, generations of families have walked through the Sergeant Bluff-Luton Primary School's doors. Now, officials are hoping to get kids into a new building through a $54.6 million bond.
Sergeant Bluff-Luton CSD has devised a three-phase plan to improve their school district, with the first bond tackling much-needed improvements to current facilities.
"It'll be a new Career and Technical Education building on our east campus, and there will be new infrastructure at the high school building which will consist of HVAC work, heating, cooling, electrical, lighting and so on," superintendent Chad Janzen said.
However, the main reason for the bond is a new facility for their K-2 students.
"It's a new primary building which would be attached to the current elementary building, which there are some cost savings by being able to share some spaces involved there," Janzen said.
The expansion would be attached to the elementary school's north exit. School officials have plans to move their baseball field to another building to make room for the expansion.
The aging infrastructure in the primary building is a big concern for officials.
"We've had CW Suter in, their services are HVAC and plumbing, and they've shared that to replace what needs to be replaced in the building, in the primary building specifically, would be about $6.5 million to replace that, which we can't afford $6.5 million all at once," Janzen said. "There's asbestos in the floors and the ceilings, and it's really just a building that has served its purpose for a very long time and done very well."
If the voters pass the bond, Sergeant Bluff homeowners will see an increase in their property taxes.
"We're asking for $2.85, which is part of our long-term plan," Janzen said. "The average home value in Sergeant Bluff in our district that started by Luton is about $276,000, and that amounts to about $29.29 a month."
If phase one is approved by the community, the next two phases of the plan - two more bonds in the coming years - would not raise property taxes.
Construction for the new facility would begin in the fall of 2025 and be completed in the fall of 2027.
"We haven't decided really what we would be doing with that building yet," Janzen said. "At this point, if we were to sell that building, we would be very conscious of who we would sell that to or what that purpose would be, since it would be right next to our school buildings. So that'll be something that we'll investigate here after the bond issue."
Next Monday, an open house will be held at the high school cafeteria at 6:30 p.m., where the community will be able to ask questions.