BY ALICIA FEYERHERM
Tiger Media Network
USD 489 Board of Education approved donations from three companies to construct an activities and athletics storage building on the Hays High School/Hays Middle School campus.
The 40-foot by 56-foot storage shed will be located near the tennis courts.
Leitner Buildings will donate the building framing materials. RM Custom Medals will donate the custom metal to match the Hays High brick. RoofMasters Roofing and Sheet Metal will donate the construction and labor.
Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Chris Hipp noted this project will require some regrading and demo in the area.
“So we’ll have a little bit of an investment, but we had $200,000 held for FY 27 to do a storage building of this size, and because of this donation, we’ll be able to get it done right now at a fraction of the cost,” Hipp said. “Can’t thank them enough for them approaching us and starting that conversation.”
Superintendent Ron Wilson said the shed will benefit a variety of sports and organizations. For example, Unified Bowling Coach Richard Hodges currently stores 100 bowling balls in his garage during the off-season.
Board Vice President Jayme Goetz thanked the companies for their support.
“This is incredibly generous,” Goetz said. “I’m really grateful for the community investing back into our district. I think this is excellent.”
The board accepted the donations unanimously.
The board also approved a base bid and alternate bid from J-Corp for $53,100 to demo, regrade, and add new concrete to a portion of the Hays Middle School staff parking lot.
Wilson said this project has been part of the capital outlay project list and will provide better drainage in the area.
This section of the parking lot is near the tennis courts and the tennis courts will not be surfaced until the parking lot is regraded.
“Once we get the top coating (on the courts), we’ve got to make sure the water has a place to go, and if we get a big rain or a big runoff, it could back onto the court,” Wilson said.
The board approved the bid and alternate bid unanimously.
Other items from the meeting included:
- Recognition of the Hays Unified Bowling Team for winning the 2025 State Unified Bowling Championship in Topeka
- Updates on O’Loughlin Elementary School and Hays Middle School bond projects
The next Board of Education meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. on December 15 at the Rockwell Administration Building.