Soccer fields coming to school property

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In a short meeting, the Eureka Springs School Board voted to hire Legacy Construction as the district’s construction management firm.

Legacy had handled remodeling work at the elementary school this summer, and administrators were impressed with the company’s ability to find subcontractors and complete the job under difficult time constraints. At the August 13 board meeting, Supt. Bryan Pruitt explained that the district would have to put a contract out for bids. After a three-week bidding period, the school only received one other bid, from a company in Bryant, Ark. Legacy is located in Fayetteville.

The contract essentially places Legacy on retainer. The school will only pay them during a construction project, and Pruitt explained during the August meeting that the school would save money despite the additional expense of a construction management firm.

In an interview after the meeting, Pruitt said the school’s next major project would involve leveling the middle of the track to accommodate a soccer field. That project will also require establishing a new parking area, as well as a separate area for the field events formerly held in the infield of the track. Pruitt said the goal is to start as soon as track meets are over in the spring.

Learning another language

Gov. Asa Hutchinson will visit Eureka Springs on Monday, Sept. 17 to speak to students at 8 a.m. about opportunities in computer coding. High School Principal David Gilmore said the EAST Lab has made coding a priority, and the governor’s message will reinforce the importance of computer language.

The governor will speak in the high school auditorium, and Gilmore said the school would fill the auditorium with as many students as they can to share the governor’s message. Eureka Springs was one of 80 schools selected for a pilot program to examine existing methods and look for new ways to teach coding.