MARSHALL — The Marshall School District is in the middle of some big building projects, but its existing school buildings are also in need of upkeep. In the next couple of years, the district is planning to update parking lots at Marshall High School, as well as to replace parts of the ventilation systems at the middle school and Park Side Elementary. The projects would be funded through abatement bonds and about $2.8 million in facilities maintenance bonds, said MPS business services director Dion Caron.

On Monday, the school board voted to approve a long-term facilities maintenance plan that outlines the next 10 years of updates to school buildings. Projects included in the plane range from roof and window replacements to pavement repairs and planned replacement of carpet and floor tiles.

Caron said the facilities maintenance plan included items like annual upkeep on gymnasium floors at MHS and Marshall Middle School. However, he said there are some major projects planned for 2021, that divide up into pavement updates and ventilation updates.

Repairs and updates to sidewalks, curbs and gutters are planned district-wide. But the west and south parking lots at MHS are in need of replacement, Caron said. The lots are showing lots of cracking and spalling. They had already been patched, crack-filled and seal coated, Caron’s report said. He estimated the parking lot replacements would cost about $310,000.

The paving projects would be funded through a $580,000 abatement bond, Caron said.

“That would include a lot of our sidewalk, gutter and curb replacements,” in addition to the work at the high school parking lot and crack filling at the middle school parking lots, he said.

Other large projects planned for 2021 include the replacement of some of the air handlers at Marshall Middle School, at an estimated cost of $1.2 million, and updates to the HVAC system at Park Side, at an estimated cost of $1.3 million.

The HVAC updates would be funded through indoor air quality facilities maintenance bonds not to exceed $2.865 million, Caron said.

The facilities plan also includes projects planned out through 2030. Caron said some of the other planned updates in the next few years including updating the middle school theater in 2022.

“I believe the seating is original” to the 1960s-era school building, and is in need of replacement, Caron said. Updates to the theater will become more important for events held by both the middle school and the new school under construction on Southview Drive.

An important project planned for 2023 is the replacement of two boilers at Park Side, Caron said. The project was “kind of a tricky one” to put into a long-term plan, he said.

“You want to replace those (boilers) before they go out,” he said.

Other plans include updates to the middle school track in 2024, and roof replacements at MHS starting in 2026. The roofing work would be broken up over three summers, Caron said.

School board members voted to approve the facilities maintenance plan, and in a separate vote passed a resolution stating their intent to issue a maximum of $2.865 million in facilities maintenance bonds for the planned HVAC projects at MMS and Park Side.