The Jefferson College Board of Trustees has agreed to spend $325,000 to have an outbuilding to house a concessions area and restrooms constructed at the athletic field on the Hillsboro campus.
The board voted 5-0 Oct. 9 to award the contract for the outbuilding project to Centermark Construction of Ste. Genevieve, which submitted the lowest of four bids for the work.
According to the Centermark bid, it will cost $318,000 to construct the outbuilding and $7,000 for additional sidewalk work at the sports complex. Board member Krystal Hargis was absent from the meeting.
John Linhorst, the college’s vice president of finances and operations, said the new building will give the sports complex a suitable area for concessions sales and will allow the college to move away from the portable toilets it has been using up to now.
“The facility will feature block wall construction with wood elements, providing a permanent replacement for temporary bathroom facilities that are currently located in the same area,” he said.
The 630-square-foot outbuilding will offer several amenities currently not available at the sports complex, Linhorst said.
“The new structure will include four accessible restrooms for general use and a dedicated restroom and changing area for athletic officials,” he said. “It will also feature a permanent concession space, which is also an upgrade from the previous concessions facility, where concessions have operated out of a shared general building nearer to the baseball field than other athletic field locations.”
He said Centermark is expected to begin the project in November, “with completion anticipated in time for the start of the spring sports season.”
Linhorst said the $7,000 part of the project will add a sidewalk to connect the new building to the baseball field complex.
Erosion control, other projects
Also on Oct. 9, the board voted 5-0 to award a $68,000 contract to Checkered Flag Excavations of De Soto to fix a large drainage ditch between the Hillsboro campus main entrance and the soccer field.
The company submitted the lowest of three bids for the project.
“(Checkered Flag) will soon begin erosion control and repair work near the main entrance, addressing an area that experienced washouts from heavy rains in recent months,” Linhorst said. “The water runoff had begun to displace stone and cut into the hillside.”
The project will shore up the hill, he said.
“Contractors will reclaim and stabilize the site by reusing as much of the existing rock as possible, which has been moved by the recent rains,” he said.
“The slope will be reinforced with additional rock to prevent future washouts and protect the integrity of the surrounding landscape.”
Linhorst said that work is also expected to begin in November, but the completion is expected by the end of December.