by Malcolm Butler
The Lincoln Parish School Board voted to approve additional funding for upcoming facility projects in District 1 and District 6, projects that will be mostly funded through bond monies voted on by parish residents in April.
The projects in District 1 include a new Ruston High softball facility, baseball renovations, gym renovations, indoor pavilion, new roofing at RHS as well as Ruston Junior High School security features (parking lot and fencing).
After the initial round of quotes obtained by Clark Construction out of Little Rock showed the $17.5 million was not enough for the projects, the LPSB Building and Grounds Committee and Finance Committee met Monday to discuss how to value engineer some costs out of the projects in order to lower the total cost.
“They got the initial drawings from Mike Walpole that were about 30 percent finished,” said LPSB Superintendent Ricky Durrett. “They go to subcontractors to get bids for every aspect of each project. That simply got quotes from the original drawings, and that was the number they came back with.”
After Monday’s meeting, the committee’s agreed to add up to $3.8 million from the capital project fund.
“To complete all the capital improvement plans we’re requesting to commit $3.8 million of the district’s local capital project funds from insurance proceeds and parish wide CPFs (Capital Project Funds) for the project,” said school board member Danny Hancock following Monday’s committee meetings.
On Thursday, that additional $3.8 million was approved by the school board by a vote of 10-1 with only David Ferguson voting against it. Otha Anders was not present at the meeting.
“Towards the end of January we will get a second pricing from Clark Construction,” said Durrett. “Mr. Walpole will be further along with the drawings and a little more precise with the details of what it is going to entail. They will go back and get pricing again from the same groups, and it should be less because they know more of the details.
“In early March we will get a final bid with the actual costs. That’s when we will know the final definitive cost.”
Durrett said that the total $3.8 million may not be needed, but that it would be the absolute cap for the additional funding.
“We don’t necessarily have to use all of this additional funding,” said Durrett. “That’s the most we would use. So if we can get the price down, we won’t have to use as much of that from the capital projects fund.”
The school board also approved purchasing a 4.5-acre tract of land on South Farmerville Street at a price tag of $150,000 from the City of Ruston that once served as the home to the Ruston Girls Softball Association. This will be the site for the construction of the new Ruston High softball facility.
The Ruston City Council will vote for their final approval to sell it to the LPSB during their December meeting.
The LPSB also voted 10-1 (David Ferguson voting no) to approve an additional $500,000 out of the capital projects fund towards the District 6 (Choudrant) capital improvements. This is on top of the $2,195,384.50 received from the bond.
Again, this money would only be used if bids come in over the $2.2 million.
Below is an executive summary of the District 1 projects, estimated cost based on the initial quotes, and timelines.
Softball Field ($6,198,781) — Start April 22, 2025 and completed December 1, 2025
Baseball Renovations ($2,194,400) — Start April 22, 2025 and completed December 2, 2025
Gym Renovations ($2,003,321) — Start April 22, 2025 and completed September 23, 2025
RJHS Parking Lot and Fencing ($1,118,606) — Start April 22, 2025 and completed August 8, 2025
Ruston High Roof ($1,225,011) — TBD
Covered Pavilion ($6,058,001) — Start May 14, 2025 and completed Feb. 6, 2026
“A lot of these will start at the same time, but the pavilion will be the last one to be completed,” said Durrett. “It’s a pretty good timeline. They have some weather time built into this and the summer is a good time to be building because there won’t be as much rain.”
