Overview:
The project will remodel existing space, add conference and office space, and free up space for classroom use. The Knox County Board of Disabilities is paying the entire project cost.
MOUNT VERNON — Construction has begun on a 5,000-square-foot building expansion that will streamline operations for the Knox County Board of Developmental Disabilities.
Superintendent Steve Oster said the project remodels existing space, adds conference and office space, and frees up space for classroom use.
“We have no privacy; all of my service and support administrators and Early Intervention Help Me Grow are in a common space,” he said. “That’s not the way you want to deal with people problems in a public space like that.
“We’re also trying to get everybody on my staff in one part of the building,” he added.
Oster said that with two staff people in an office, there is no privacy if a family comes in for a conference. The new building provides a larger meeting space and some smaller dual-purpose spaces for family visits or offices.
The new space also provides storage for items like diapers for the Help Me Grow program, which are currently in stacks on the floor.
“We’re trying to give people the space they need and make it work better, make them feel comfortable and private,” Oster explained.
Knox DD had explored other options for additional space, including downtown, but no suitable space was available.
Additionally, Oster said Knox DD’s location next door to Knox County Head Start and the Knox Educational Service Center’s preschool works well because individuals in the various programs often overlap.
“We’ve been looking at this for six or seven years. We’ve been saving money,” he said.
The engineer’s estimate for the expansion was $3 million; Modern Builders won the project with its bid of $1.948 million.
Adena Corp. submitted a bid of $2.292 million, and Efford Inc. a bid of $2.684 million.
Oster appreciates the $1.948 million price tag.
“We didn’t want to ask taxpayers for this,” he said. “If we had to do that, we wouldn’t do the project. If it was going to cost $3 million, we wouldn’t do it, either. We don’t have that kind of money.”
Oster anticipates the expansion will be completed by July 1, 2024.