Teutopolis Board Ready to Discuss High School Facility w/Public

Teutopolis school board members huddled Monday night to discuss options for the district's high school facility and are ready to take their ideas to the public.

The original portion of the high school building was completed in 1929 and much of the facility is not handicapped-accessible. That issue and other infrastructure concerns has led the Board to consider tearing down the original portion of the building or renovating it.

Teutopolis Superintendent Bill Fritcher said he will schedule a public meeting to gain input from district residents.

Three options were identified Monday by the Board. They are:

--do nothing

--renovate the 1929 portion of the building, which carries an estimated $6.4 million price tag

--tear down the 1929 portion and add facilities onto the south and west of the building, with a walkway connecting the remaining portions of the structure

Besides seeking input on those three options, Fritcher said the Board will also ask for thoughts on a couple of other options. One is whether residents would like a new competition gym built onto the east end of the building, which would carry a price tag of around $10 million, the other is whether they would like a cafetorium built in place of the 1929 portion of the building including a fine arts area and a cafeteria, which has an estimated cost of $6 million.

Once the Board gets input from citizens at the session, they will likely work on distributing a survey in hopes of getting even more input as to how to proceed.

We'll let you know when the public meeting is scheduled.