SOUTH WHITLEY - More space is what the public said is needed at Whitko High School at the first WHS improvement project community meeting Monday.

Approximately 25-30 patrons were in attendance to give representatives of Barton Coe Vilamaa Architects & Engineers Inc., Fort Wayne, their input into the building improvement project. And the building, they said, should last another 30 to 40 years. It was built in 1972.

The next two community meetings on the project are Thursday from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Central Office, Pierceton, and 8 to 9:30 a.m. Saturday at Whitko Middle School, Larwill.

Kari T. Vilamaa, president of Barton Coe Vilamaa, said the school board is looking at upgrades to the high school. Changes are needed to the building because of changes in requirements and programs.

"It's really a nuts-and-bolts kind of upgrade that everyone is looking at," said Vilamaa. He said they are not going to try to build the Taj Mahal.

As for the meetings, he said, "It's really fact gathering in our mind ... we're not coming in here with any preconceived ideas."

For discussion purposes, Dana Wannemacher, project architect with Barton Coe Vilamaa, broke the WHS campus into four parts - exterior, common areas, classrooms and athletic facilities.

On the exterior, Pete Mitchell, Whitko board member, said, "There ought to be a better way to alleviate the traffic problem in front."

According to WHS Principal Parrish Kruger, approximately 20 percent, or about 220 of the WHS students, drive.

Wannemacher said parking was not an issue, it was just the "coming and going" of traffic.

"It's a hassle, but we get through," said another man. He said it wasn't a big concern.

Another patron said the front door is a security issue. It would be nice to have better screening of people entering the building, especially the commons area.

That comment lead to discussion about the commons area. "You walk into the front door and you are there," said Wannemacher, "especially lunch hour."

One woman said her concern with the commons and hallway is that there is lack of electrical outlets to run concessions during a ballgame.

Another patron said if they were redesigning the school today, he wouldn't have the commons, which also serves as the cafeteria, in the main area because of security.

Mitchell said during a basketball game, access to the restrooms was not handy. There ought to be restrooms closer to the gym, and/or a way to get in and out of the gym. Another man suggested a hallway that goes around the gym so students don't cut through the gym.

"For as many sports as we have," said one woman, "I don't think one gym is adequate."

Not only is there a "fight" over gym time said one man, but the locker rooms also leave a lot to be desired.

"There is no weight room," he said, "no fitness center."

On the auditorium, a woman said, "They don't have adequate dressing rooms" and no place to store props and sets. "It's like we have to spread out everywhere. There's just no room there."

Concern about the safety of the catwalk was aired as well as the auditorium not being handicapped accessible for wheelchairs.

"The auditorium seems to either be feast or famine," said Dave Tranter, Whitko school board president. "There's either very few people in there or it's packed."

The front office, said one man, is "very small, congested at times."

"I feel like they need to have a window," said one woman, so the office personnel can see who is coming in and out of the building.

On the classrooms, one woman said the media center has inadequate space. There's no room for the students to work and they're in the media center all the time. "They're on top of one another," she said. Moisture is a problem and some books have been damaged because of it. "That definitely needs to be changed," she said.

One man said the heating and cooling in the classrooms is inconsistent. "Some days, I don't know how the kids can function," he said.

Wannemacher said although the school has four computer labs, there's no room in the classes for computers.

If the media center were expanded, one patron said that would free up the computer labs for class rooms.

Vilamaa said they need to look at the school's programs and how space is used for them. Programs have changed a lot in the past 30 years.

Kruger said student enrollment is 618 at WHS.

That's been pretty level the past few years, said Jeff Hendrix, superintendent. If the school were built today, Tranter asked what changes would be made.

Wannemacher said they'd build bigger classrooms. Now, students are squeezed into the classrooms and they're "bulging at the seams." Typical high schools today in Indiana, said Vilamaa, don't just have one gym and don't have commons that double as a cafeteria. Media centers are built bigger, there are more restrooms and the office area is much larger.

Tranter asked, "How long do we want this building to last?"

Hal Trump, Whitko School Board member, said most of the consensus is another 20 years.

Vilamaa said if they are going to invest a lot of money in improvements now, 10 years isn't long enough. "You need to look at a longer period of time."

A patron said he's lived in his house since the 1800s. The school needs to be kept up and should last another 30 to 40 years. [[In-content Ad]]