Despite what you may have heard, the South Colonie Central School District is not building a new press box at Colonie Central High School.
The district cannot build a new press box on the athletic fields of the high school because South Colonie voters approved renovations to the existing facility 929 to 805 in October of 2008. The building does not meet current fire regulations.
We want to make sure that the accurate information is out there to the public. There was some inaccurate information floating around, Superintendent of Schools Jonathan Buhner said. `We just want to be clear on what we’re currently doing with the old press box.`
The facility was built over 40 years ago, according to the district’s Communications Coordinator John Noetzel, and was found by the state Office of Facilities Planning and state Department of Education to be in violation of building code and not able to be used. The district made the building usable for an extended amount of time in 2008 by closing the top floor of the press box and adding scaffolding and fire escapes from other upper levels.
This was done as a temporary solution, Buhner said, until voters could approve a new press box to be built with money saved in the district’s general fund ` not costing the taxpayers any additional money, according to district officials. Prior to the vote, the district was given an extension for use of the press box until Nov. 22, 2008, at which time state officials said the facility could no longer be used.
The project would have cost around $149,000 if the taxpayers had approved the project at the vote in October, none of which is coming from taxpayers’ pockets. But voters rejected the initiative, forcing the district to come up with a Plan B for the press box.
Noetzel said the district has been in communication with the agencies, working with them to try and come up with a solution to make the press box useable, and ensuring that they understand that the district uses the facility frequently for athletic events.
`We have meetings periodically; we’re trying to figure out what to do,` he said. `They’re working with us because they know we need it. But they also know that we didn’t get approval to build a new one.`
This week, Buhner said, the district sought to address rumors that were being spread that the district is planning to build a new press box so that voters do not take that false statement into consideration before deciding whether to vote in favor of the budget.
Buhner said the district has gotten another extension for the press box `through the fall sports season this year.` But beyond that, Buhner said, the district is looking into what the district can do to make the old press box useable, instead of planning for a new one.
`There will be no new press box. There’s no money,` said Buhner. `We’re just working with the existing agencies to see what we can do to the structure that’s there to try to see what we can do to continue to use it after this year.`
The district plans to comply with the agencies by making adjustments to the physical exterior of the building, including reinforcement to the structure, which Buhner said will be done in-house by district employees without additional costs to the district or taxpayers. The district also plans to close the third floor of the building permanently.“
