SYRACUSE -ÊFloor plans don't always make it easy to picture a building as three dimensional.

Tuesday, Wawasee school board members didn't need to imagine what the new North Webster Elementary School will look like in 3-D as the architects presented 3-D images of the school.

Gary Watkins, of Barton-Coe-Vilamaa Architects & Engineers Inc., Fort Wayne, presented the board with floor plans and 3-D images of the building. Included were the mechanical plans of the building.

Entry to the building would be on the east side. The media center is centrally located, with the gym and cafeteria on the west end.

If the building is locked down, Watkins said, the front door is the only entry and anyone who enters the building will have to pass by the administration window. This, he said, will provide better security for the school.

The gym includes two full basketball courts, cross-court.

The classroom sizes vary from 925 square feet to 1,100 square feet.

Watkins said the construction documents for the project should be completed by May 9. Bidding of the project will begin in June.

The new school will be built on the property Wawasee schools purchased in November for $322,092. The 68 acres, formerly owned by Joe Barrett and Richard Kistler, is at the intersection of CRs 750E and 600N, North Webster. The school will be a total of 106,226 square feet.

Wawasee Schools Superintendent Mark Stock said they received notice from the state board of tax commissioners to go ahead with the project and advertising for the financing of the project begins today. Today also begins a 30-day remonstration period for the project's financing.

In other business, the school board:

• Approved W.R. Kelso Co. Inc., South Bend, to reroof the physical education and vocational departments area of Wawasee High School. The bid is for $127,421. W.R. Kelso was the lowest of five bids.

"We were very pleased with the way the bids came in. They were under budget," said Don Huber, director of finance.

The work will begin approximately three weeks from today and will take 30 days.

• Approved Robert Lahrman II as the coordinator of support services. He will receive $57,000 and will be responsible for the corporation's transportation and operations. Stock said they received 55 applications for the position. Lahrman is currently in charge of buildings and grounds for Fort Wayne Community Schools. He owns property in the Wawasee School District and served 22 years with the National Guard. Lahrman will begin April 6.

• Approved Dottie Allen, the current assistant cafeteria manager at Wawasee High School, to be in charge of the hot lunches. With her increased responsibilities, Allen will receive an annual stipend of $5,000 that will be given to her as part of her hourly rate.

• Approved New Beginnings Child Care, Milford; North Webster Day Care; and Lakeland Community Services, Syracuse, to offer the Latch Key program for students in the Wawasee School Corp.

• Accepted a $1,000 donation from International Palace of Sports for equipment for golf, tennis, baseball, track or swimming.

• Accepted a $6,500 donation from the Wawasee Middle School Parent Teacher Organization for the purchase of six new computers for the media center. Students now have 20 computers with Internet access for research purposes.

• Approved starting the bargaining process for a successor agreement with the Wawasee Community Educators Association. The present agreement expires June 30. The WCEA wants to begin the discussions in May.

• Rescheduled the April meeting to April 18 at 7 p.m.

Wawasee school board members are Jeff Wells, Carol Swartzendruber, Marion Acton, David Carey, Brian Dawes. [[In-content Ad]]