Board approves fitness center plan, payment

The Esko School Board approved its 2022-2023 revised (and largely unchanged) budget of $16.14 million at its monthly meeting Monday, March 13, along with final funding and construction plans for the highly anticipated fitness center.

Final construction plans for the fitness center detail a nearly 4,750-square-foot fitness center, two rooms for physical therapy, two bathrooms, and a front entryway with a welcome desk for use by the public.

The building is being constructed using the existing exterior wall of the old gymnasium, the exit hallway with the trophy cases, and the existing exit doors in the gymnasium. The board pursued this location to cut down on costs by using existing walls and plumbing.

The fitness center will feature an exterior entrance for community members and key-card enabled doors for the students to enter through via the gymnasium and trophy case hallway. This will eliminate the issue of community members walking through the school to access the fitness center, which was identified as a security concern for the district.

Construction plans will go out for bid this month, with all bids due on April 6. The district's targeted project start date is June 19 with construction wrapping up in late October and officially finished in mid-December 2023.

Duluth-based ICS, the district's construction planning consultant, gave an update to the board and the Esko community regarding the layout of the construction site and access to the baseball fields. According to ICS, there will be fencing put up around the construction and it will not interfere with any summer baseball leagues.

The board also approved the next step of the lease levy that will be used to fund the construction of the fitness center project. The board gave the go-ahead to borrow $2.125 million in the next month-and-a-half, with the funds available around May. The board has already levied for the first payment of the lease.

The lease levy program is essentially a lease-to-own program which allows the district to gradually pay off the project with levied funds, while the building is being leased to them by the lender. Once the loan is paid off, the district will own the facility.

The center is projected to be 4,750 gross square feet, bringing the project's total budget to nearly $1.575 million for construction, not including costs for design and management as well as fees.

Capital plans

Board members also approved a $460,000 capital budget for the next school year, something Esko superintendent Aaron Fischer said they do in advance so the district can hire vendors to work on the mostly summertime projects. That capital budget includes a turf decompaction project to refresh the artificial football fields, the purchase of more LED lights to update more areas of the school, and $261,000 in capital reserves to save for any unexpected needs, including possible fitness center items.

Fischer explained that the capital reserve has not been earmarked for any particular expense, but it could also cover fitness center costs that aren't covered by the lease levy, giving as examples the exercise equipment or safety glass for entrances.

Offensive mascot?

During the open forum portion of the board's meeting, Rachel Gilbertson spoke to the board about taking a look at the district's mascot and school logo, the "Eskomos" and the igloo.

Gilbertson discussed the mascot's connection to the Innuit indigenous people and the harm that the mascot, "Eskomo," has done to all Native people, especially children.

"I understand that the team name holds a lot of sentimental value for the community and is supposed to be a fun play on words with the town name, but we now know that the name is harmful," Gilbertson told the board.

Gilbertson suggested that the board put this issue on the agenda for their April meeting.