Skip to Content
Listen Live
ON AIR NOW1:00 PM - 5:00 PMKWED COUNTRY MUSIC W/Linda Duncan
listen live
Home

Playscapes on their way up in the Seguin ISD

Seguin, TX, USA / Seguin Today
Playscapes on their way up in the Seguin ISD


(Seguin) — Voter approved bond projects in the Seguin ISD are either on their way up or have already made it to the drawing board. That’s according to Bill Lewis, the chief operating officer and associate superintendent for the Seguin ISD.

Lewis recently brought the board and the community up-to-date with the various projects currently going on throughout the school district.

One of the first sets of projects to be arriving on the campuses will be the new outdoor ADA playscapes which include multi sensory play areas and shade canopies. Lewis say the new playscapes will begin arriving on campuses soon with the first playscape being installed at Rodriguez Elementary School.

“There’s construction currently going on at Rodriguez right now to prep the site, get a little bit of concrete work done and then, they’ll start putting the playscape up and so once, they get the site prepped, those playscapes will go up in about four to five weeks for each project,” said Lewis.

Lewis says it just made sense for Rodriguez to be selected as the campus for the first install.

“Our lay down yard with all the equipment is right there at A.J.B. so we went with Rodriguez because it is the closest in proximity just to get it up a little faster and see the progress and be able to see the finished product. So it was just the closest one to where all the equipment is laid down right now,” said Lewis.

Lewis says after Rodriguez, the next schools on the schedule include Patlan and Jefferson followed by Koennecke and Vogel and then Weinert and McQueeney.

All playscapes included in this $1.8 million project are expected to be installed and ready for students in August.

Another project that many folks have already seen in full swing is the construction of the new Seguin High School Matador Stadium. Lewis says the stadium is currently undergoing a rebuild at its current site. He says as of now, the project is where it needs to be.

“We are all on schedule for Matador Stadium to be completed by August 17, 2020. The field will be finished prior to that earlier in the summer to be turned over to district so the team can start practice in the summer when they normally start practice so it will be ready and then the grandstands and other items will be completed by August the 17th,” said Lewis.

Lewis says the weather has obviously helped the project stay on schedule and says here soon, the public will begin noticing even more progress at the stadium.

“We haven’t had any major issues at this point. Everything has gone according to plan. The inground utilities have been smooth. Working with the city has been great so once the rest of this ground work is done, then you are going to start seeing everything start going up,” said Lewis.

Things have also already officially started with the A.J. Briesemeister Middle School project.

The project was the largest project proposed to the community.

Lewis says the district is currently in the planning stages for the school’s $39 million renovation and construction project.

“So AJB, we have started the design phase. So we are designing what it is going to look like. We’ve been working with staff and kind of came to an agreement about the layout of the school and so now, they are putting together what it is going to look like inside as far as ceilings and walls and floors and doors and those kinds of things. So, that will be coming out in a couple of months to have those things finished. We’ve also worked with teachers about what they want to see in their classrooms, what they want to have in their classrooms, equipment wise, furniture wise — what kind of spaces do they want to see in the school, what kind of common learning spaces do they want to see. They want bathrooms. They want all those things that are important. They want them close by for staff and for students. We are kind of laying all those things out right now in the building,” said Lewis.

Lewis says the district now has a timeline for the project and is ready to get things going.

“So by November, we should be able to have the completed construction documents and then at that point, we could put those documents out to bid like we did with the stadium. We had a complete set of documents. We’ll put it out to bid and then get those back in December/January, select a contractor and then get started. So, if we start in say January, February 2021 — that’s when construction would start — so you are looking to phase it in. I believe we have about a two and a half year schedule — up to three years. It depends how things go,” said Lewis.

District officials say discussion is also set to begin next month on the $3.9 million partial renovation of the south school building at Jefferson Elementary.

The projects are all part of the $64.7 million bond package approved by voters in May of 2019. Other included projects include the $1 million land purchase for the future replacement of McQueeney Elementary School and $1.7 million for various campus improvements to include drainage, HVAC, plumbing and furniture.

Lewis on Tuesday provided the update on the bond projects to members of the Seguin ISD Board of Trustees. The public is encouraged to follow the district’s progress of these projects by clicking the Bond 2019 button found on the district’s website at seguin.k12.tx.us.