Koplitz Field House
SOUTH BEND - South Bend School District received a $258,000 design grant to keep Koplitz Field House up to building code. With it's unique, old-style gym (1950), including that lovable balcony, it sometimes is challenging to keep it up to current seismic standards.
"It's kind of interesting, since about 2016 we've been working on the new elementary school, in particular trying to secure funding," Dr. Tienhaara told the Herald Monday morning. "During this time I have been able to connect with and meet lots of different people at OSPI and in the legislature, many of them work on special projects and legislative priorities. I think it was early 2018 I got a call from one of these contacts asking if we had any interest in participating in a geotechnical study that had to do with potential seismic upgrades.
"Since we were in the middle of the new school planning, we had already started to look at some geotechnical studies on the south part of campus, so I was very interested in possibly tying the project into additional funding," Tienhaara continued.
"That summer the engineering firm came in and did some testing around Koplitz Field House, being one of our oldest buildings," Tienhaara explained. "We didn't really hear much until about mid-2019 when the legislature allocated some funding to do further work into the seismic program. They did some additional studies statewide, and last spring I got a call from the state telling us that Koplitz Field House might qualify for some state funding to do a seismic retrofit study.
Fast forward to these last couple months and here we are, $258k to hire a firm to come in and provide us with permit ready plans.
"The whole opportunity was kind of a 'being in the right place at the right time' type of thing," Tienhaara said. "Now that I look back at it, we were very busy with the new school planning. Without Gary Wilson doing the coordinating, when they first called us about the potential seismic study, it might not have happened. Similarly, Wyatt Kuiken, who replaced Gary when he retired, continued the work throughout the seismic study/planning phase. We all were working on this at the same time of designing and building the new school, so this is a great example of the work ethic both Gary and Wyatt bring to their work. I'm very grateful to have such a dedicated staff, they are the ones who make all these things happen."
The project could take up to six months to complete.
"We have an RFQ being dropped this week in the Seattle Daily Journal and hope to hire an architectural firm in May," Tienhaara said. "I imagine the planning phase will take four-to-six months at which point we will have permit ready plans. The project will depend on additional grant funding that we have yet to secure, but we are currently working toward that."
"I think this is another example of putting ourselves out there, so-to-speak, trying to do what we can to bring resources into the area and the district," Tienhaara said. "South Bend doesn't have a lot of resources on our own. Though our community is very generous in supporting our maintenance and operation levies, those resources primarily go toward supporting education and the main day-to-day maintenance of our facility. The big and usually expensive items we need depend on various grants and unique funding opportunities. We apply for many and receive some, but we have been able to do a lot over these last five-to-six years. Again, none of our projects would be possible without our incredible staff, always willing to move and work on a new opportunity.
"After the seismic design is complete, I'm hoping we will be in good shape for a construction grant to carry out the retrofit, ensuring Koplitz Field House lives on for decades to come," Tienhaara added.
Washington State ranks second in the nation for earthquake risk, but a vast majority of Washington's public school buildings were built prior to the adoption of modern building codes.