Van Alstyne ISD will add air conditioning to its indoor multipurpose athletic building, a 72,000-square-foot space, a change trustees approved unanimously Thursday night at an estimated cost of about $1.5 million.
The building's original design called for heating, louvered vents and ventilation fans, with no complete air-conditioning system, according to the district's recap of the Oct. 15 board meeting, posted Friday afternoon.
Administrators told the board that the University Interscholastic League's heat-safety requirements now use wet-bulb globe temperature readings to decide when student activities have to be limited. Administrators said those requirements could significantly affect practice schedules in the summer.
The planned system is meant to hold conditions inside the building under the UIL heat-safety thresholds, the district said. It is not designed to keep the space at a typical indoor setting of about 72 degrees.
District officials expect the change to let athletics, band and other student groups use the facility more often during stretches of extreme heat.
Paid for within the existing budget
The district said the larger facility project is running about $2.3 million below budget after value engineering. That cushion lets the district cover the air conditioning without going past the amount originally authorized for the project, according to the recap.
