Chuck Hughes, Board of Education, Seat 5
♦ This is in response to Rowan Free Press staff’s inquiry regarding the question of why constructional support for the Wallace Education Forum building’s dome continued beyond the point of no return despite not having the needed donations to complete the project.
These are the facts as I understand them at this time:
The full cost of putting a capped dome on the building has risen to $380,000 since it was initially proposed. Of this, only $60,000 in donations has materialized. Unfortunately, unknown to this board member, this $60,000 was spent on preparing structural support for the dome itself, leaving Rowan County tax payers $320,000 short of the “anticipated” donations needed to complete the project.
Because of constructional deadlines, if the remaining $320,000 in donations is not provided by August 1st, the board must decide to either spend another $60,000 of tax payer’s money to address the aesthetics of the uncompleted steel structure by covering it or commit to fund the additional $320,000 needed to complete the project. The latter is not an option I would support.
In order to ensure clarity regarding the facts and to determine who authorized the continuation of construction to prepare for the unfunded dome, I asked the Chair to place the issue on the August 11th work-session agenda, unless a special meeting can be called earlier.
Previous articles on the “dome” at 500 North Main:
