• Courtesy: Okemos Athletic Director Ira Childress

UPDATE: OKEMOS - The Okemos School Board recently approved the Facilities Committee proposal to add a much-needed addition to the current weight room at the Okemos High School.

According to Okemos Athletic Director Ira Childress, the 2,000 square foot addition will serve as a strength and condition center that will benefit the athletic teams and physical education department for year to come.

"The extra space will provide a high quality training environment for our students," stated Childress.

The addition will be funded through the Building and Site Sinking Fund. The project is expected to break ground in early summer and is scheduled to be completed in the fall.

The Okemos School Board has also approved the replacement of flooring surface in the Rubber Gym during the 2016-2017 school year.




ORIGINAL STORY: OKEMOS -

At the Okemos School Board meeting on January 26th, Superintendent Catherine Ash summarized an extensive plan to renovate parts of Chippewa Middle School and Okemos High School.

The possible renovations at Chippewa Middle School include removing the unused pool to make space for a multi-purpose area, adding additional classrooms and refreshing the gym, auxiliary gym, lobby, and various work spaces.

The high school would be seeing an expansion to extend the weight room, which would redistribute space for various sports programs.

There are also possible plans in the works for the Media, Technology, and Operations Building at the high school and the press boxes for both schools.

All the current plans are tentative and can be adjusted if the funds are needed elsewhere in the district.

"There's a constant prioritizing," Ash said at the meeting. "So while I say this is our 'dream world, this is what we'd like to happen,' this is assuming that the rest of our facilities and grounds maintain and nothing major goes wrong. It's like being a homeowner. You never know."

If approved, these renovations would begin this summer and continue until 2019.