Part Two will feature the board and superintendent’s response to the public meeting and when a decision will be made for the intermediate building’s future. If you have a question or would like to leave a comment about the article please send an email to gritchey@knoxpages.com.
DANVILLE — Danville High School’s auditorium was filled this week with concerned citizens wondering what the future held for the former intermediate school building.
The Danville Board of Education conducted a public informational meeting Monday to outline the facts and share with the community the status of the intermediate building.
Danville Supt. Jason Snively said his role is to provide a safe, secure environment for the present and future generations of Danville Local School students and staff.
The district utilizes approximately 1,630 square feet of the building, the total square footage is 15,600. The district would have to pay approximately $10,700 of property tax on the building due to it being leased with no public use, Snively said.
Gas bills average $788.40 per month with a low of $55.05 in July and as high as $1,747.65 in January. The electric bill is approximately $326.73 per month.
If the board decided to renovate the administrative building, it would cost around $2.65 to $3.32 million. This figure is based on securing the exterior of the building new roof, windows, doors and replacing major systems such as full-mechanical replacement, upgrade electrical systems and plumbing system as needed.
The cost to demolish the intermediate building is $131,192, which includes removal of the existing structure, importing soil to level the site and leaving it as a grass lawn.
If the building is demolished, the cost for 75 parking spaces would be $694,400. This would also include site drainage, parking lot lighting, striping and meeting the requirements for handicap accessible spaces and slopes.
The current parking lot needs asphalt work, Snively said. The last time a new layer of asphalt was quoted the cost was $42,000 in 2021. A new quote will be provided, given the future of the site.
Snively also noted the need for athletic facilities and career technical facilities on the south side of the high school.
Currently students walk or drive to the fieldhouse on Tough Street during the day, which is viewed as a safety and security concern.
The Ag-Ed program would like to expand the greenhouse program. This would be placed near the ag shop in the student parking area. The district is applying for grants for the project, Snively said.
For that to happen, Snively said, the current student parking lot would have to be moved. The only place to do this would be within the footprint of the intermediate building.
An audit conducted by Homeland Security and a recommendation from the partnership for safer schools (PASS) suggested the need for improved parking and secure access to the high school. This recommendation concludes that fusing school parking and non-school parking isn’t recommended.
The Danville Heritage Association (DHA) wants to rent the building from the district. The association is made up of Danville citizens who would like to see the building not demolished and instead repurposed for the community.
DHA paid a structural engineer to assess the condition of the property and it said the structure was found to be in good condition. DHA also hired an architect and prepared a code and change use analysis, which would allow it to use the building as seen fit.
Member and organizer of the association Pat Crow was able to state DHA’s case at the meeting, explaining the organization would be able to make the staircases handicap accessible, which would likely mean the use of an elevator.
During the public comment period of the meeting, an audience member asked how the building will be funded if grant money dries up and sought specifics on how much the building would cost for renovations.
“We’ve been asked how we’re going to pay for it.
“I’ve been involved in a number of projects and over many years. But our professional opinion (…) it’s not an expensive building to rehabilitate, if you don’t believe, based on professional input we received from our architect and worked on and raised money to the tune of about $36 million in Knox County over the last 25 years.
“So we can professionally say we believe that we can make this happen,” Crow said.
At the end of the meeting, Danville Board of Education President Charlie Bratton asked the crowd if they were in support of keeping the building or demolishing it.
The majority were in support of keeping the building.
