Decision on the future of the Grambau Center is discussed

Now that the students have been relocated to the Rogers City Elementary School and the high school building, what is the school district going to do with the Grambau Center? Possible answers were discussed at a recent facilities and planning committee and were shared with the entire board of education Monday. The Grambau is used for three purposes at the present: two classrooms are rented out for preschool classes; the building is home to the superintendent and the central office staff; and the gymnasium receives extensive use throughout the school year. The committee did some brainstorming as to what will need to done with the school facilities to serve the students and staff in the future.

?ROGERS CITY is faced with declining enrollment and as such and we are really feeling the impact of that,? said board member Scott McLennan. ?Now, we have a building here, the Grambau Center. It?s a beautiful building, but it was built back in the 1920s and it is near and dear to the hearts of many of us. It?s a great old building, but the key word is old ? very old. It?s a building that needs a lot of upkeep in the coming years and it won?t come cheap.? Voters in the district recently renewed a millage with funds to be used for the maintenance of school grounds and facilies. The money has paid for the paving of parking lots, replacement boilers, and other upkeep.

McLennan expressed concern that the Grambau could become a drain on that fund. ?Do we take that money and continue to maintain and repair the Grambau Center, or do we take that money to help maintain repairs at the elementary school and the high school?? McLennan asked. ?Quite frankly, if we don?t make a decision on this soon, we will have to continue to maintain it. All we are asking as a committee is to look at this and do a little visioning and run some numbers and see what we can come up with.? The committee did some visioning and started to identify some needs of the district. Now that the students from the Grambau have been relocated, space is a little tight, McLennan said.

?WE?VE ALSO been listening to the seniors in town who use the nautical trail, walking, hiking, and biking,? McLennan said. ?Many of the seniors are enjoying the trail this summer, so we?ve looked at that. We?ve looked at gymnasium space as something we desperately need, even with the Grambau Center.? McLennan presented a rough draft of a drawing which included an expansion of the high school building and the addition of a new football field on campus. The building expansion, which would be on the west side of the facility, would include a new gymnasium with a walking loop, a weight room, food cafeteria, new locker rooms, and a couple of new classrooms.

The building could be used as a community center, McLennan said. The cost of the project was discussed, but more importantly, McLennan said the amount of money that would be saved also would be a driving force in any possible building project. McLennan said this is just a starting point and there will be some more exploring into the matter. The committee also will be looking for community input.

IN OTHER matters to come before the board:

? A special meeting is scheduled Monday in Posen to continue discussion regarding the shared superintendent concept. Board members from Rogers City and Posen will be on hand, following the regular meeting of the Posen Consolidated Schools Board of Education me

eting, to hear a presentation from a Michigan Association of School Boards representative. ?The hurdles have been set up, now we?ll see if we can get over them,? said president Mike Marx.

? The board approved the expanded duties of athletic director Pat Lamb to include supervision of the transportation, maintenance, and custodial services. The board also acknowledged the leadership positions of Dennis Spens as lead transportation person and Kirk Schaedig as lead custodian. The board authorized the interim superintendent and board president to negotiate appropriate additional compensation for these positions.

? The board also established the time for public input or comment at the beginning of the meeting. The time will be limited to five minutes per person. The action eliminates an agenda item to allow further input near the end of the meeting, a matter which was debated between McLennan, who favored the change, and Armand Loiselle, who wanted it to stay the same. .