Area students may soon start building a house in Iola as part of the Rural Regional Technology Center’s building trades program.
The project, which has been a priority since the tech center opened five years ago, was one of several construction updates Monday night at the USD 257 board meeting. The board also heard about progress at the new school project sites, approved a new roof for the stadium and reviewed numerous improvements completed over the summer.
The board approved building plans for a house on a vacant lot the district owns at 502 E. Jackson St. The plans call for a 1,240 square foot house, but could be altered to accommodate something just a little bigger, around 1,500 square feet.
Building trades instructor Brett Dawson and USD 257 maintenance director Aaron Cole told the board they needed the plan approved before they can take the next steps, which include preparing the site and getting cost estimates for materials.
The district likely will fund the cost through its general fund, with the expectation that the sale of the home will fund future projects.
Dawson was reluctant to guess at possible costs, because of recent hikes in the price of lumber. That’s only going to get worse, he said, as wildfires destroy thousands of homes in California and the Northwest, and they’ll need to be rebuilt.
Lumber prices have spiked because of big swings in the construction industry caused by the coronavirus. According to news reports, lumber mills faced a glut of wood — and some shut down — when construction slowed at the start of the pandemic, but production of new lumber couldn’t keep up when demand suddenly swung the other way. Demand also increased as restaurants and other businesses scrambled to build outdoor seating areas.
Prices are also higher because of tariffs on wood from Canada.
“I don’t know if we can buy lumber now and store it,” Dawson said, and suggested there might be room for storage at the tech center (which was once a former lumber yard).
In addition to concerns about the price of wood, school board members were concerned about the timeframe for building a house.
It likely would be a two-year project, Dawson said. It’s possible students could build walls inside the tech center at LaHarpe and transport them to the site, to speed the process in case of inclement weather and the summer break, when students would not be in class.
The plan to build a house has met with numerous delays over the years.
Fort Scott Community College started the building trades program at the tech center five years ago, but wanted to focus on teaching general construction and safety.
Last year, the program attempted to build a tiny house with materials supplied by local businessman Ray Maloney. The coronavirus pandemic closed the tech center at spring break, and students weren’t able to finish the project.
This fall, Neosho County Community College took over the program with a goal to build a new single-family home.
