Area Education Agency 267 hires architect for conference center remodeling

CEDAR FALLS | Plans to remodel Area Education Agency 267's conference center are expected to improve workflow in the building.

The agency's board of directors Wednesday approved contracting with Struxture Architects of Waterloo to design plans for the first phase of remodeling the facility at 3712 Cedar Heights Drive. Work stations will be updated for employees, which AEA 267 spokeswoman Beth Strike said will improve workflow.

"We have folks who just logistically aren't in the right place together to make their work conducive," she said. The remodeling is "something that's been needed for a very long time."

Construction costs are estimated at $783,300, or $950,000 when fees and contingencies are added. The board "approved up to $1 million of an expenditure for that," said Strike.

The board is expected to award a construction contract for the work at its February meeting. The first phase would be completed in the fall of 2015.

The board also approved an agreement with the Cedar Falls Community Schools to operate River Hills School, which serves students with significant cognitive disabilities. The agreement establishes a consortium of school districts that send students to River Hills to administer instructional programs. Superintendents of those more than 20 districts sit on a consortium board, including the Waterloo and Cedar Falls schools.

"The superintendents are on a board that facilitates the general operations" of the school, said Rod Ball, assistant director of special education for AEA 267. "What the consortium does, it ensures that we can fund the program properly as the (Iowa) Department of Ed has given us instruction to do."

In other business, the board:

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Area Education Agency 267 hires architect for conference center remodeling