No summer break for school projects

The Northern Ozaukee School District is getting multiple face-lifts behind the scenes and in easily visible areas this summer.

Five facility projects for around $3.6 million are underway.

The most visible project is the installation of a new high school running track for $1.3 million.

The school hadn’t hosted a track meet since 2017 because of the condition of the track’s asphalt. That is being replaced, along with the storm sewer, and a ring drain is being added.

“That’s going to flatten the whole area around the track so the surface drains the track and football field equally,” Facilities Director Kent Schueller said.

“It’s been a decade since the kids have run at home here. All 18 of the events can be done here, including pole vault,” Athletic Director Andy McKee said.

Ozaukee will join Cedar Grove-Belgium as the only two schools that can host the pole vault in the southern portion of the Big East Conference.

That, McKee said, “means we get to host bigger meets more often.”

A middle school meet and middle school invite are already on the calendar for next year.

“We’re really going to get this thing going right off the bat in 2027,” McKee said.

Longtime head track and field coach Andrew Pfeuffer, who still serves as assistant coach, is excited for the upgrades.

“My hope is by being able to have home meets we can have younger athletes see a real high school meet and help feed our high school program for the future,” he said.

The football field will keep its grass surface, Supt. Dave Karrels said, and it could also be used for soccer.

A new scoreboard and sound system were installed thanks to a $100,000 donation from Charter Steel’s parent company, the Charter Manufacturing Company Foundation. Charter Steel has its name on the scoreboard.

Just beyond the north end of the track and field, the old concession building, football shed and two old maintenance sheds — one of which didn’t have a concrete floor — have been torn down and will be replaced with one new multipurpose building. Bathrooms will be included, adding a convenience for fans.

That project’s cost is budgeted to be $1.22 million.

In the high school gym, new bleachers that meet Americans with Disabilities Act standards were installed.

“We worked hard over winter to secure bids from vendors throughout the state,” McKee said.

Other groups were working as well. The Ozaukee Booster Club donated $45,000, the Warrior Boys Basketball Club gave $20,000 and the Warrior Girls Basketball Club gave $15,000. That covered nearly half of the project’s $168,000 cost.

The new bleachers replace ones that were original to the building built in the late 1960s. McKee said the boards from the old bleachers were donated to the community and were in high demand.

“I’m interested to see what projects people come up with,” McKee said of the boards.

Other work at the high school included an upgrade to the fire alarm system. The old system passed inspections, but parts weren’t available anymore.

Each classroom’s ceiling devices and smoke detector heads are being replaced.

Bathrooms are also being upgraded with improved plumbing and electrical systems, a new ceiling grid, lighting, paint and flooring.

“They’re quite old. We needed to just spruce them all up,” Schueller said.

All five projects are expected to come in at or below the estimated $3.6 million total, Director of Business Services Josh McDaniel said.

“These were projects that were coming for a while. Each one of these five were things we identified as a need,” Karrels said.