Victoria Advocate On-Line

Shiner superintendent is getting a new office
Monday, February 19, 2007
Barry Halvorson, Victoria Advocate Sports Editor

VictoriaAdvocate.com Article   |   Shiner School Construction News   |   Construction Watch Home Page

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SHINER - With the district getting ready to move its students and teachers into a new facility, the Shiner school trustees approved purchasing a new building for the superintendent as well during Wednesday night's regular meeting.

During their September meeting, the board authorized Superintendent Trey Lawrence to talk to a real estate agent about purchasing a building located at 505 Texas Ave. in Shiner. During Wednesday's meeting, Lawrence told the board he had made an offer of $125,000, which was accepted by the owner, who lives in Salt Lake City. The building had formerly housed a church.

The district's current administrative offices are located in a residential building located across the street from the district's existing downtown campus. Lawrence said that the new building would only be about a half-mile from the district's new campus adjacent to Comanche Stadium.

"I would like to be closer to the (new) school," Lawrence said. He added an administrative office for the district was not included in the budget for the new school location.

In discussing the financing of the new building, Lawrence said he expected the sale of his existing office would cover the cost of the new building as well as any necessary renovations. He said the new building also includes two adjacent lots that could be sold. He said that any additional revenues from the sale of his current office and the lots could be put toward purchasing additional equipment for the new building.

In responding to questions from board member Laura Kaspar, Lawrence said he could move into the new building immediately and any renovations could be taken care of at a future date at an estimated expense of $17,000. He said the new building could be either a temporary or permanent solution to the space needs.

"This is not necessarily a permanent solution," he said. "Down the road, we could sell it and move to the campus site if we decide to. I feel very confident that we can purchase this building, sell the old one and still cover the cost of renovation."

In discussing benefits of the move, Lawrence said the building has a room with an already installed sound system that could be used for board meetings, addressing previous complaints from district residents who have said they have trouble hearing at the board's current meeting location, a portable building at the elementary school. He also said that based on current construction prices, buying in this case would be less expensive than building.

"The building is 2,200- to 2,300-square-foot," he said. "With construction costs for building at $100 per square foot, the district would be looking at spending $200,000 or more for the same size building. I think this is just too good of an opportunity to pass up."

Saying most of her questions had been answered, Kaspar voted with four other members of the board to authorize the purchase with the one dissenting vote by Gloria Reindl.


Barry Halvorson is a reporter for The Victoria Advocate.
Contact him at 361-798-3888, or by e-mail at hvilladv@vicad.com.


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