District #18 to add bus barn to campus

Several major summer projects were “green lighted” by the District #18 Board of Education last week.
The campus of Elgin Public Schools will change as a result of the projects approved by the school board. They include:
Bus barn — Discussed one year ago with the board opting to pursue a wash bay, this time around the board voted 5-0-1 (Ron Bode abstaining) to construct a four-stall bus barn. The barn will be located on the south edge of the parking lot which abuts the school gym.
The cost for the bus barn will be approximately $73,000 and will be constructed by Schmitt Construction of Elgin. According to Superintendent Dan Polk, dimensions of the bus barn would be 48’x58’.
Board member Stan Heithoff said the school board has talked about adding a bus barn for a number of years. Another board member, Ron Bode, indicated that he felt the positives outweighed the negatives, alluding to the bus’ lifetimes being extended due to putting them in the barn when not in use.
Steve Busteed, board president, said he believed part of the cost of the bus barn could be recouped over a number of years.
It’s possible, down the road, an addition could be made to the barn to allow other school vehicles to be parked inside a structure.
Storage building — Similar to other storage buildings located on the east side of the gym, the board approved to add one more storage building of similar dimensions. The only difference will be that the new building will have doors on both ends of the structure. To be constructed by Beckman Lumber, the storage building will cost approximately $6,100.
The board also approved the purchase of a new dump trailer at a cost of just under $7,000.