Farmington High hopes to get physical

A year and a half before the new Farmington High School even opens, school officials are considering for a second time how they can add onto it to increase the recreation space.

The school board is weighing whether to add a two-court, $3.1 million auxiliary gym to the building -- which already has three courts -- and to spend $550,000 to cover the football field in artificial turf, which can tolerate heavier use and would save the district money in maintenance costs.

The proposal comes less than a year after a district proposal to add a $24 million "Sports and Wellness" addition -- complete with an Olympic-size pool and two sheets of ice -- failed by almost 70 percent of the vote in Farmington.

"I'm not terribly interested in debating why we're here now," school board chairwoman Julie McKnight said at a meeting Monday where community members were encouraged to weigh in on the proposals. "I'm interested in debating where we go from here."

The fact that the new Farmington High School is being built at all in western Farmington is somewhat of a miracle considering what the project has gone through since voters approved its construction in February 2005.

Later that year, the school district sued the city in a dispute over the location of the high school. When the parties settled in May 2006, the district got its preferred site but had to pay the cost of building a road by the school.

The yearlong lawsuit and construction delay increased the cost of construction from $83 million to more than $105 million, forcing the district to alter the school's design to bring the cost down.

The board later rejected $6.26 million in bonds to put the pool, the two-court gym and two tennis courts, which had been removed to save money, back into school plans.

Then came the proposal for the sports complex, which caused a heated community debate between parents weary of driving all over the state for ice time and taxpayers who had grown weary of rising property taxes.

Where does that leave the high school now? In the high school being built, there will be a three-court gymnasium that will serve students in grades 9-12, compared to the current high school that has five courts serving students in grades 10-12.

Teachers and coaches agree that it is not nearly enough space for physical education classes and sports teams.

"Public schools are about kids being well-rounded citizens," social studies teacher Todd Karich said at Monday's meeting. "We're on the verge of making a big decision about which direction we're going to go, and whether we're going to be a district that supports physical education. We need our kids to understand its value."

The school district estimates that it could fund the $3.1 million auxiliary gym by using $1.85 million on proceeds from a one-day bond sale conducted last year, capital project funds and site acquisition funds.

The remaining $1.25 million for the gym and the $550,000 for the artificial turf -- $750,000 to install the field minus $200,000 saved from not installing the grass -- could be funded by using money set aside for furnishing a sixth elementary school, which won't be needed as soon as earlier believed because of the housing slump.

Another option would finance the project by using the district's lease-levy authority, which means it would have an outside company pay to build and own the gym and field.

The district would pay to use the facilities for 15 years before ownership would be transferred to the district. That option, however, involves a tax increase, which makes the board less likely to support it, the district said.

According to McKnight, the extra gym space is a necessity that the public understands and appreciates, so most of the debate should be over the artificial turf field.