Board moves forward on PHS gym project

An architect’s drawing of the proposed Paintsville High School gym floor replacement project was presented to the Paintsville Independent Board of Education Monday, March 11.Paintsville Herald photo by Tony Fyffe

After putting new turf on its football field last year, the Paintsville Independent Board of Education is now tackling a major renovation project in its high school gym.

During their regular meeting March 11, school board members took action on various items for the gym replacement project at Paintsville High School, including the approval of architect agreements, bid documents and paperwork required by the Kentucky Department of Education.

Architect Mike Sparkman of Alt32 also presented drawings and the timeline for the project, with construction set to begin in June and completed in August.

The gym floor design shows Paintsville being in the 57th District and 15th Region, but Sparkman said “State of Kentucky” was mistakenly omitted from the drawing and will be included on the final version. The gym floor will also include the name of retired PHS boys’ basketball coach Bill M. Runyon, who is now Paintsville mayor.

Board member Joe Porter asked if the 57th District needs to be on the gym floor in the event Paintsville is moved out of the district.   

“I think the chances of us leaving the district and Johnson Central leaving the district are probably slim to none,” Superintendent David Gibson said. “But you are right, that is something that could change. …I would be surprised if we change, but it is something that may happen eventually.”

According to the architect’s proposal for services, the school board indicated that the existing gym floor has exhausted sanding options and that there is no floor buckling or roof leaks. Part of the project includes improvements to the existing volleyball court, and the board would like to keep existing volleyball sleeves or offer an overhead net as an alternate.

The architect noted that there may be a desire to salvage part of the existing 1977 gym floor for district use.

In other business, Gibson said Paintsville Elementary Principal Kristy Frazier and Paintsville High School Principal Tiffant Austin, who normally address the board at its monthly meetings, were in Louisville at state competition with their community problem solving (CmPS) teams. The elementary team placed third and the high school/middle school team finsihed second, Gibson said.

“I want to congratulate them on a successful season,” Gibson said. “I also really want to brag on Ms. Workman, the high school coach, and Ms. Hicks, the elementary school coach. They really have done good work with the CmPS program.” 

Gibson also said SATs would be administered Tuesday and that there were 50 days of school left.

“So, we’re in the homestretch,” he said. “We’ve got spring break in 10 days. I know everybody’s probably looking forward to that and some warm weather.”

By Tony Fyffe Staff Writer
https://www.paintsvilleherald.com/news/board-moves-forward-on-phs-gym-project/article_aeb9ef20-e0a7-11ee-8f8f-978241dd38ad.html

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