The Steelville R-3 School District Board of Education on Oct. 15 approved a new contract between the school district and the Steelville Arts Council for the use of the Meramec Music Theatre.

The school district purchased the Meramec Music Theatre and approximately 20 acres of surrounding land from the Steelville Arts Council in June 2022 using Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds provided by the federal government during the coronavirus pandemic.

As part of the purchase, the school district entered a five-year agreement with the Steelville Arts Council that has allowed the organization to host musical and theatrical events at the theatre throughout the year without paying rental costs.

Under the new contract approved by school board members, the Steelville Arts Council will be required to pay a fee for renting out the theatre, just like any entity that wishes to do so.

Steelville R-3 School District Superintendent Steven Vetter said that the new contract will charge the Steelville Arts Council the same standard fee other entities are required to pay for using the facility.

“(The contract) expires in June, so we’re trying to get out front of that and agree on a fee for using it,” Vetter said. “It’s going to be $500, essentially just a district standard usage fee.”

The contract requires that the Arts Council pay $500 for a one-day rental, $750 for a one-and-a-half day rental and $1,000 for a two-day rental. The contract is good for one year and does not automatically renew. The contract will expire in June 2027, when it can be renegotiated or renewed under the same terms.

The Arts Council is also required to provide its own general liability insurance of at least $1 million for the length of the contract. District board members, employees and volunteers are required to be named insureds. The district is also permitted to require additional insurance coverage based on the “nature, size or risk of a proposed event,” according to the contract.

In other news from the Oct. 15 Board of Education meeting, board members heard updates from Matt Nigh, a senior project manager with Navigate Building Solutions, the company contracted by the school district to oversee major renovations to school facilities that are scheduled to begin in spring 2027. The project is expected to be completed in summer 2028.

Nigh said that “biddable drawings” renovations across the school district are around 60 percent complete, and will be ready to bid to contractors in December and January 2027. Navigate also expects contract bidding to be complete by January 2027.

Plans include adding additional ADA-complaint parking spaces to Steelville High School’s parking lot and asbestos and flooding abatement measures at Steelville’s elementary and middle school buildings, which will also be receiving new classroom doors and complete bathroom renovations. Nigh said that the school district will utilize temporary, portable classrooms to keep students learning while work on school facilities is underway.

“One of the biggest challenges with this project, with the amount of abatement and still trying to maintain a functional school, I think we’re planning on some temporary classrooms so that (students) are out of the building,” Nigh said, adding that main corridors will remain open while contractors work in classrooms, with work on corridors being done over the summer. “We’ll at least maintain that center corridor so that they can get to the offices and the cafeteria and back.”

According to Vetter, to ensure student safety, contractors working in school facilities will go through a process of background checks and be kept on file.

“Because I’m sure this will be a question as we go forward, all those individuals that are here working throughout the day will all have to be background checked,” Vetter said. “Its not just anybody who comes in from anywhere and works here. They have to go through that process and we’ll have that on file. There’s lots of checks to make sure everything is safe along the way.”

According to a presentation from Navigate Building Solutions, current cost estimates for the project stand at nearly $7 million. The project is being funded through a $6 million general obligation bond issued by the school district in July 2026. The bond is being managed by Piper Sandler, a multinational investment bank.

S&P Global Ratings, an American credit rating agency, gave the bond an AA+ rating, and the school district an A+ rating, indicating a strong confidence that the school district will be able to pay off the 20-year general obligation bond that is funding school renovations.