WELLS – The United South Central school board held a special school board meeting Thursday evening to address facility issues and learn what community members would like the board to do.

Around 215 people came to the 7 p.m. meeting at the school in Wells to hear about the problems in the building and two possible scenarios from architects.

Superintendent Jerry Jensen presented a “virtual tour,” which was a slide show of images of some of the building problems. Photos included rusting pipes, water damage and deterioration throughout the entire building. Windows, doors and plumbing were shown, and Jensen explained how inefficient air flow and heating is. Jensen said that out of 335 school districts in the state, USC is ranked 330 in age meaning there are only five other districts with older buildings.

“Everyone’s done a good job trying to keep them up but there are some areas of the buildings that are a real concern to the board and I assume to everyone here,” Jensen said.

Two architects, Gary Nyberg and Jim Wilson, from Smiley Glotter Nyberg Architects out of Minneapolis presented a remodeling/addition plan and a new building plan to community members. The architects have been working with the school district since 2004.

The option that includes remodeling the current building to address all the problem areas also includes an addition of a new building that would house a gymnasium, a new kitchen and dining area. The cost estimate for this project is around $16 million.

Community members present asked why the school had gotten so deteriorated, and Jensen said that funding has been an issue. If the school were to be remodeled under the first plan all the maintenance issues would be addressed, and the school would just have to continue maintenance plans for the future.

The second plan is the possible construction of a new building somewhere in Wells. No land has been bought yet for such a project, and the cost of an entire new building would be a little more than $24 million. It would be projected to be finished in 2013 if that option were chosen.

The new building would have two distinct areas. One area would be all classrooms that could be locked if there are events like sports games or concerts in the other area of the school. The public area would include the gym, auditorium and commons area. The new school would be designed to hold about 750 students; USC currently has about 650 students enrolled. The architects estimated the new building would last around 75 years.

Ronda Allis, of rural Easton, was at the meeting and said she appreciates the effort the board put into organizing the meeting.

“Something has to be done,” Allis said. “As a school district we need to come together for the kids.”

The meeting lasted about two hours, and many community members asked questions of Jensen and the architects. Some had questions about the tax impact of either bond. In a packet passed out to those present was a sheet depicting tax impacts on households, businesses and farmsteads for each building scenario.

The school board conducted a straw poll at the event by asking people to fill out a ballot choosing one of the two options presented. The board will study the answers and discuss the facility options further at its next regular school board meeting at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday. Jensen said instead of having community meetings at all of the outlying communities the board chose to have one meeting and offered busing to and from Easton, Kiester, Freeborn, Bricelyn and Walters.