Esko fitness center moves forward

The Esko school district is one step further along in its plans to build a new fitness center for students and community members, following the school board’s approval of an initial construction plan and budget.

The district’s construction planning company, Duluth-based ICS, presented the current floor plans and budget at the board meeting Monday, Feb. 13.

ICS proposed a fitness center which will include a large open area for workout equipment, two exam rooms to be used by physical therapy patients and trainers, two bathrooms, lockers, and a front desk. There will be separate secured entrances for students and the public to use in order to allay safety concerns about the entrance into Esko’s current fitness center.

Following the presentation, board members and superintendent Aaron Fischer gave their feedback to the ICS representatives.

Board members requested small tweaks to ICS’s original plan, such as moving the public entrance door to the opposite side of the fitness center to ensure that the front desk has a view of the entire gym and to further the separation between the public and students, and changing the layout of the bathrooms to create more space for workout equipment.

After making those adjustments, the board approved the plans. According to the ICS representative, these are the general plans that will be used to guide the project into the bid phase.

The center is projected to be 4,750 gross square feet, bringing the project’s total budget to nearly $1.575 million. The total does not include the fitness equipment and does not reflect the changes the board asked ICS to make to the plan. The board will have a better idea of what the fitness center will cost after bids are received next month.

The district plans to partner with a regional hospital that could use the fitness center for physical therapy services. That hospital would be responsible for running the front desk during their business hours and all patients would use only the public entryway. No partnerships have been finalized.

Fischer addressed concerns about the construction of the project interfering with access to the baseball fields at the Esko school. According to superintendent Fischer, there is no way of knowing right now when they will break ground on the project and how much the construction will impact access to the fields.

“We will let people know as soon as we know details,” Fischer stated.

In other business, the board approved the 2023-2024 school year calendar. The calendar has no major changes in comparison to the 2022-2023 calendar. District officials decided to continue with the parent-teacher conference schedule they debuted this year, which gives parents more time to talk with their children’s teachers and conference times earlier in the day.