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Members of Reimagine Miller Committee make case for bond issue during meeting at MACC

T-R PHOTOS BY ROBERT MAHARRY — Jon Vance of the Reimagine Miller Committee presents during a meeting about the upcoming bond issue at the Marshalltown Arts and Civic Center (MACC) on Wednesday evening.

They don’t build them like they used to.

During a public meeting held at the Marshalltown Arts and Civic Center (MACC) on Wednesday evening, Margaret Gervich, Jon Vance and Doug Gervich of the Reimagine Miller Committee presented facts and figures on the upcoming $57 million bond vote — which, when paired with $49 million in bonds against the Securing an Advanced Vision for Education (SAVE) one cent sales tax, would provide $106 million to renovate the nearly 100-year-old middle school while also covering improvements at Franklin Field and audio/video equipment at elementary school buildings across the Marshalltown Community School District (MCSD).

After a brief introduction from Margaret Gervich, Vance, an MHS graduate who works for MARSHALLTOWN Co. and is married to First Rate Real Estate Owner (and fellow MHS grad) Sam Vance, laid out the reasons he felt the proposal deserved the community’s support in front of a sympathetic audience of about 20 people. The bond referendum requires a 60 percent supermajority to pass.

As Vance explained, four additions have been built onto Miller throughout its 99-year lifespan, but he felt the building is at a critical juncture and needs a major revamp to meet the needs of MCSD students and teachers in the 21st century and beyond. Under the Reimagine Miller plan, at least 80 percent of the total facility would be new or like new after construction is complete.

Based on conversations with students, parents, staff, school board members, and members of the local business community, Vance said, the consensus is clear.

Margaret Gervich of the Reimagine Miller Committee delivered the closing remarks at Wednesday night’s meeting.

“Resoundingly, everybody understands that we need to invest in this facility,” he said. “Overwhelmingly, the feedback is simple. Let’s do this and let’s be bold… There’s a statement that we’re all comfortable with and we all have come to understand. They don’t build them like they used to. Everybody in this room has probably heard that, and everybody in this room probably agrees with that.”

From there, Vance broke down a trio of options the school board and district leadership could have pursued: building a “typical” new middle school with a single gym and no auditorium, building a new facility with two gyms and an auditorium and finally, reimagining Miller, which provides more square footage at a lower cost without having to purchase new land on the south side of town — as has been noted in previous presentations, about 70 percent of MMS students live on the north side.

Vance said structural engineers have commented on the impressive state of the building and the historic auditorium.

“It’s just an incredible decision for our school. We can meet students how they learn today. It’s so much more, and it’s the most fiscally responsible decision. So for me, personally, it’s the only right decision,” he said.

He then moved into the property tax impact of the bond and referenced a recent work trip where he and a colleague wanted two black coffees at Starbucks. The cost, it turned out, was nearly $7, and approval of the bond issue would raise the taxes on a $200,000 house by $9.37 per month or $112.44 a year. If companies like MARSHALLTOWN want to recruit top-tier employees, Vance explained, the community needs high quality school facilities, and a building like Miller in its current form could be a dealbreaker for a prospective candidate with children.

As far as a timeline, he projected that if the bond passes, residents can expect about nine months of planning and two to three years of construction — Franklin Field, however, should be done by next summer. Vance said he has been asked if this is the right time to pursue the project in light of high construction costs, but Superintendent Theron Schutte said those numbers will likely only continue to increase in the future.

Doug Gervich, himself a Marshalltown native and MHS alum, took over for Vance and shared a bit of history from 30 years ago when the school board put Franklin and Glick elementary schools “on the chopping block.” Residents of the northwest part of town advocated for keeping Franklin, and the superintendent at the time said “If you think you can pass a bond issue, go ahead” to reimagine Franklin.

It did pass with 84 percent support, and it led to the preservation of the classic ticket booths and the development of the 13th Street District — which, at the time, boasted just a single private business, The Spot. Today, there are nine, along with a revamped West End Park featuring futsal courts and a new shelter house.

“To me, that is classic economic development,” Gervich said.

The people of Marshalltown, he added, have had great success reimagining other buildings in the past, from the courthouse to the Veterans Memorial Coliseum to the MCSD Administration Building (formerly Anson Middle School) to the old Fisher factory that now houses the Emerson Innovation Center on South Center Street.

Once their initial presentation concluded, Vance, Gervich and Schutte fielded questions from the audience. One attendee asked if there was any viable space for a new build on the north side, and Schutte said it would require between 28 and 30 acres. The superintendent also pointed out that if Marshalltown was expecting the rapid growth some of the Des Moines suburbs are currently experiencing, it would be much easier to justify building in a newer area of town.

“There’s a lot of people that would love to see that happen, but that’s not the current trajectory,” Schutte said. “I think it will continue to be a slow growth.”

Another commenter simply didn’t see the upside of a new build as opposed to renovating the current school. Rep. Sue Cahill (D-Marshalltown) recounted a recent experience door knocking for her campaign and said a man she met had reservations about the Franklin Field aspect and wondered if removing it from the project would lessen the tax impact.

Out of the entire $106 million, Vance responded, only about $6 million will go to Franklin and the A/V equipment for the elementary schools, and Schutte explained the benefits of getting all the work done at once — the cost, he said, will only go up the longer the district waits.

He also touted the fact that the district’s overall tax levy has dropped by almost $3 per $1,000 of valuation since 2021, and attendee Amber Danielson said Franklin Field is widely used by the community at large and not just students and staff.

Another commenter said a prospective teacher declined a job with the MCSD because of the condition of Miller and asked where students would learn during the construction period if the bond passes. Schutte said “as much as possible” would be done by moving them around within the building, but they would likely need to find an alternative space for some students and staff.

“We don’t have that all figured out, but there are a lot of potential options in the community,” he said.

The Central Rivers Area Education Agency building on South 12th Street, which isn’t far from Miller and was gifted from the MCSD to the AEA in the 1970s, could be one along with the mall and the old hospital/McFarland Clinic complex downtown. One thing focus groups and stakeholders were adamant about, according to Schutte, was avoiding leaving another large Marshalltown building vacant without any plan for its future, so the Reimagine Miller plan was seen as the best option for that reason.

In response to another comment about the idea that any aspect of the project was being “snuck in,” the superintendent took offense with the suggestion as he felt district leadership has been transparent throughout the process as to what will be voted on Nov. 5.

“We’re better off doing all of this at the same time and getting it done with the audio visual then trying to piecemeal it together because when you piecemeal, three or four years from now, technology is gonna be even better and different,” he said.

As he wrapped up his remarks, Schutte commented on the ever-increasing level of competition for teachers in the state due to the shortage and noted that even the MCSD’s newest three buildings — MHS, Fisher and Hoglan elementaries — are almost 60 years old.

Before the meeting concluded, Paul Barr of the Reimagine Miller Committee asked those in the audience for financial help promoting the bond vote, and Margaret Gervich thanked everyone who took the time to show up and urged them to cast their ballots in favor of the referendum.

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