High school bleacher decision expected at January meeting

By Roxie Murphy, Assistant Editor
Posted 1/8/25

A new bid was presented to the Gasconade County R-2 Board of Education on Dec. 26 regarding the Owensville High School (OHS) replacement bleachers from Heartland Seating and Kansas. The board …

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High school bleacher decision expected at January meeting

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A new bid was presented to the Gasconade County R-2 Board of Education on Dec. 26 regarding the Owensville High School (OHS) replacement bleachers from Heartland Seating and Kansas. The board discussed the aesthetics and user-friendly utilities of the new design, determining more questions before they felt comfortable making a purchase.

Superintendent Dr. Jeri Kay Hardy introduced the discussion.

“The items for discussion, and remember we are not voting on anything today — Dr. (Staci) Johnson and I went to Rolla and looked at their bleachers to compare those to what we have,” Hardy began. “I always reached out to the company and said ‘Hey, we want to look at the 12-inch bleacher seats, not the 10-inch seats.”

Gary Pohlmann, the district’s maintenance director, said the 12-inch seats are currently in the gym. Hardy said she didn’t think they would want to go smaller than what they had.

“The ones in Rolla, with that extended footing that goes into the next bleacher without that gap, we would lose two to three rows of seating on each side, so we could not sit as many people,” Hardy said. “I sent you guys the picture of the photo I found with the orange with black accents, but if you look online, you will find a photo with the orange kick plates and the black seats.”

The Rolla superintendent said he would not recommend putting emblems on those bleachers because the only time you see them, they were pushed in, but your community is only there when the bleachers are pulled out.

Kari Nolting, who is approaching her first year anniversary on the board and is a former district coach, has been opinionated in bleacher discussions.

“I am completely fine with not putting an insignia on the bleachers,” Nolting said. “But I do feel like we need some color accent because (too much black) feels daunting.”

Glenn Ely, board president, said it would be interesting to see a perimeter, the back rows or a half and half orange and black color scheme. Nolting agreed that sprinkling in color will break up the color scheme. Pohlmann said the kick plates and handrails will add a lot of oranges.

“I really like the white in the hallways,” Nolting noted. “Wouldn’t it be cool to paint the gym white instead of tan? The hallways are looking very nice.”

Hardy noted that the updated bid was not opening in her email and told the board she would email them all a copy when it came in, so they could move on. Nolting asked when they needed to make a decision for the bleachers installed by August 2025.

“I would say the next board meeting would probably be the latest,” Hardy said. “I want to make sure we have the design and you guys are ready to make the decision in January.”

The board agreed they wanted the 12-inch seats, but needed to choose a design and color scheme to move forward.

“I like the idea of the orange around the kick plates and handrails,” Ely said. “That was the magic for me.”

Russ Farrell, who announced on Dec. 26 that he would not be running for re-election in April, said all he wanted was some orange and he would be happy with it.

Nolting asked about the handrails on the second level. Jason Crowe, director, said right now the rails are tan and Nolting said they blend in with the wall.

“If you set up there and they are orange, you are going to be looking through orange,” Pohlmann said. “The lighter the color, your vision isn’t going to draw attention to it as much.”

They agreed white would be just as glaring.

“Either way they are going to be in your way,” Nolting said. “I always sit above the handrails because I don’t like to look through them.”

Rick Hardy, the OHS Career Technology Education (CTE) teacher, asked if the company could make a 3-D model with the color scheme for the board to see. Dr. Hardy messaged the company to ask.

“I think it would make sense to make (the handrails) a lighter gray than the bleachers but not white,” Crowe said.

Ely recapped they wanted the updated bid with new schematics and the new color scheme. Hardy agreed to send any pictures they come up with to the board.