C.R. schools hold final meeting Tuesday on flood recovery options

CEDAR RAPIDS - The Cedar Rapids school district will host its third and final public forum Tuesday to gather ideas and comments from the public on what to do with its buildings during flood recovery.

Feedback at the meeting from 4 to 7 p.m. in the band room at Washington High School will be used as the district determines what to do about offices that were damaged in the 2008 flood.

The Education Service Center (ESC), the ESC Annex, the carpenter/paint shop, the main warehouse and the food service warehouse have been operating from temporary locations since they were damaged in the flood last year.

Five recovery options were presented to the public. Options four and five will be the focus of the meeting Tuesday.

Option four is the renovation of existing facilities. “There was a significant amount of interest in this,” said Dan Thies, president and CEO of OPN Architects of Cedar Rapids, which is working with the district.

Option five is construction of new support facilities at a new site. Thies said there was strong sentiment for that option. “Having a location that would keep departments together was seen as an advantage,” he said.

People unable to attend Tuesday may share their comments online Wednesday and Thursday by visiting the district's Web site at www.cr.k12.ia.us and clicking on the “Back and Better Get Together” logo.