In the spring of 2022, the Windsor C-1 community passed a $20 million bond issue. 

At the high school, the expected upgrades include a new weight room, a new entrance to the gym, and a new band room. 

Since it is already September of 2023, when will the actual construction take place?

“We have been delayed quite a bit, so our original plan was to go to bid on those projects in April of 2023,” Superintendent Jason King said. “Obviously that did not happen with a lot of reasons for that; contractors that were interested could not command to do the bids, they were very busy tied up with other projects.”

That wasn’t the only reason for the hold-up. 

The cost of construction has gone up significantly since last spring, so that also has caused a delay. 

King said, “Unfortunately everybody is fighting higher prices. The cost of supplies has gone up dramatically and we had the hopes that those prices would drop down a little bit.” 

While the architecture process was going on, the Jefferson County Fire Marshall made sure to reinforce the rules that keep students safe, mainly directed for protection against natural disasters. This included storm shelters that were not included in the original budget, which resulted in having to take funding from multiple projects.

The storm shelter required must have concrete blocks reinforced with fiberglass and welded steel,  and bathrooms.

King said, “We had to go back and meet with our architects to redesign a few things to include storm shelters and obviously work within what the code is for the county and for the state of Missouri and so that includes storm shelters and a couple of other projects.” 

In the near future, the school is hopeful that construction will take place. 

King said, “We are just waiting for those designs to get drawn up and finalize those things and I believe we will be going into a bid by the end of the calendar year.”

Windsor athletes and coaches, particularly strength and conditioning coach Ty Van Valkenburg, are really looking forward to the new upgrades, especially the weight room. 

Van Valkenburg said, “I expect it to be one of the top 10 facilities in the state.” 

The Windsor facilities have improved dramatically in recent years. 

Over the past few years, Windsor has added a new scoreboard at the football/soccer field, a new scoreboard in the high school gym, an all turf baseball/softball field, and most recently, a video board with a sound system in the high school gym. 

The weight room is expected to have a small indoor turf field, additional crossfit-type equipment, an office, utility rooms, and bathrooms. The placement is expected to be at the end of the history hallway. 

“I know it’s going to be awesome. I think what’s so cool about it is that when it’s finally built and you can go in it and everyone who’s using it is enjoying it, it’s really going to be an ode to the administration, school board, and overall the community,” Van Valkenburg said. “It will really show their faith in me, our students, as well as all of the students that have come before and done amazing things in this room because without them believing in me and us, and without us doing our parts, this wouldn’t have happened.”