By Robert Beagle

Middletown City School District officials are planning a major construction operation over the next few years that could greatly improve the district if the Ohio School Facilities Commission approves state funding.

The plan would include a new competition gymnasium to replace the Wade E. Miller Gym, a restored Tiger Ellison training complex, a renovated and expanded high school and a new middle school. One of the main reasons for the proposed plan is that the 89-year-old middle school which is rapidly deteriorating.

It was decided through a series of Facility Committee meetings held in February and March, combined with community forums and student input, that the Verity School site was a viable site for the new Middletown Middle School and a new competition gym is preferred over maintaining the present Wade E. Miller gymnasium.

The district officials and the Middletown Board of Education will first spend the next several weeks figuring out how to fund such a large construction plan. Officials took their first step towards executing these plans this week as they started interviewing several architectural and construction management firms hoping to put together a professional team that would help to guide them through the building process.

The Fanning Howey architectural firm and the Quandel Construction Group would be recommended by the school board’s search committee, according to George Long, the district’s business manager.

A formal proposal of this resolution will go before the school board on December 3; then the district can begin negotiating Fanning Howey and Quandel’s services.

Middletown School District is currently consulting with DeJong & Associates in an effort to determine what the projections are for future student enrollment. Those numbers are an important factor when the state is determining how much money it will give to the district to fund their construction project.

The search subcommittee will address the school board concerning the next step in the building process on December 3.

Source: Middletown Journal—District moves forward with building plan