Members of the United Local school board met Wednesday afternoon to discuss possible schematic options for their new school, which is currently under construction. From left, board member Denise Rhodes talks to district Superintendent Lance Hostetler and board colleagues Wendy Doyle and Justin Medure during a tour of an impacted area of the existing school building, which will be largely razed after the new building is up. The district meets with SHP via Zoom Friday afternoon to make some decisions after learning the associated costs. (Photo by Stephanie Ujhelyi)

HANOVERTON — As their K-12 building project progresses, United Local School District board members learned Wednesday afternoon that they have some decisions to make.

During the special meeting regarding the building project, district Superintendent Lance Hostetler told board members, sans an absent and unwell Ruth Ann Rinto, that SHP Architects would be providing some cost estimates for some of the alternates that they were pondering in regards to the building project, and they would need to tie-up those loose ends soon.

He distributed a summary update printout of the connector and alteration project, which included a breakdown of timelines and scope of work.

The project entails keeping of the existing elevator shaft and stairwell leading from floors one to two and adding a new stairwell for access to the new third floor.

There is much discussion on how best to attach the old portion of the existing building, which is comprised of the auditorium and competition gym to the new building.

If they do it internally, there is the cost of a sprinkler system to consider, which may be cost prohibitive.

Hostetler reminded an alternate route might be to just connect the corridor with an overhang roof without walls, even though it didn’t seem to be the board’s preferred route.

Board members expressed concern about parents who might be there at night for multiple events and find themselves having to go outside to get around the campus, which is something they sought to curb.

This is if the board seeks to prioritize a new HVAC system to replace the current one, which is 26 years old.

As they are losing the space where the current concession stand is, United Local will construct a new, modern concession stand conveniently between the gymnasium and auditorium for use during extracurricular activities. The new three-story building will have a new retrofitted elevator cap and equipment installed, a new entry vestibule at the second floor to the east, new group restrooms to serve an existing gym and new preschool classrooms at the northwest side with one bathroom per classroom.

After a brief walk through the existing building, where most of the impact potentially would be felt, board members decided to attend Friday’s 2 p.m. Zoom meeting with the architect to get some numbers, so they can make educated decisions.

They acknowledged that they want to get the best of everything, but might have to look at some more affordable options due to cost.

The nearly $50 million project was funded through $28,970,346 in state funding approved by the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission with the remaining $20,131,935 coming from revenue generated by the Nexus gas pipeline and compression station within the district. They had begun construction in summer 2024 and hope to open the new building next school year.