Plans are coming together for a much-anticipated multipurpose facility at the Bridgeport Exempted Village School District campus, and there is a plethora of possibilities to choose from.
District leaders have hit the ground running since the announcement in June of $13.8 million in state dollars approved for a 28,500 square-foot addition to be constructed in front of Bridgeport Elementary School. The expansion will have space for education and training, health care and community activities for Bridgeport and the surrounding areas.
On Aug. 28, Superintendent Brent Ripley, Treasurer Eric Meininger, board members Kori Rosnick and Patrick McConnaughy, grant writer Angela Sommer, Technology Director Lisa Clark and Curriculum Director Leslie Kosanovic met with the project architects in a work session to discuss how a wide variety of activities might best be realized in the expansion.
Kyle Miller, associate principal and partner with SHP disciplinary design group and Ivan Vukcevich, project manager and designer, reviewed goals to be kept in mind during the planning stages. Flexibility was a priority, with district leaders agreeing that no space should be wasted and that rooms should have multiple uses if possible.
Kosanovic said ideally the expansion would always be active in a variety of functions. She also said the district’s YouScience program would be valuable in gathering data to create curriculum. YouScience is designed to measure students’ aptitudes and Kosanovic said this data could be aligned with the district’s existing pre-apprenticeships for a pathway of continuing education and training for students.
“Just having that march forward through upper elementary through middle school through high school for those pre-apprenticeships to a program. You graduate, you have credentials,” she said. “To have that and make sure that the space accommodates that march forward.”
Clark agreed, adding that the expansion offers some versatile opportunities.
“Your younger students can create, but your older students can actually be programming,” she said.
Clark said another important use of space would be childcare facilities for staff. This feature could also attract new employees.
Ripley said they also had the opportunity to invite accomplished people from the surrounding communities and to celebrate area history.
“With this expansion we want to connect students and adults with experts in fields, to expose them to those success stories that have rose from Bridgeport and from the Ohio Valley. Simply, we want our students and adults to dream, to help them make plans, and then to provide them with the beginning building blocks to achieve.”
Miller and Vukcevich and the school officials also said plans should anticipate future needs to make the most efficient use of space.
In terms of layout, Miller and Vukcevich suggested those rooms solely used by the school would be accessible by an entrance from the main building, with a separate entrance for the public. Clark brought up the need for a fiber connection to the main building.
Some of the proposed plans included 2,000-square-foot spaces with high bays. They discussed placement of the receptionist’s office and where gym space might be located.
Also, up for consideration is security, and what rooms would be available to students during the day and to the community during the day.
Ripley commented afterward about security and recreation.
“Security is one of our main points of focus. We want to ensure parents that we are taking time to focus heavily on this area. This building and our students will be safe. That is a non-negotiable for our planning team and the Board of Education. Another area that we will achieve is ensuring students have access to an exterior playground area that is more secure than it is presently. We are only in the beginning planning stages and will go through many drafts and revisions. In short, playground access will be provided.”
Talk turned to whether the expansion should have one or two stories and where facilities could be located in each story.
The plans remain fluid as more ideas are incorporated.
There will be eight to nine months of planning before ground is broken, likely in May of this year. The 2025-2026 school year is expected to see considerable construction. The project must be completed by Dec. 31, 2026.
More information will be released on the district app. Anyone with questions may call the district office at 740-635-1713 or brent.ripley@bridgeportschools.net.
