Students at the Regional Rural Technical Center at LaHarpe finally got a chance to swing a hammer — make that, a sledgehammer — at a house that will serve as a remodel project for the construction trades class.
Don Settlemeyer, instructor, attended the USD 257 board meeting to give members an update on the project.
The house was moved in early 2021 from its original location near the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, to a spot between Iola Middle and High schools. The plan is for construction trades students to remodel the house, so it can be sold.
Board members and administrators said it makes sense to teach remodel skills to students, as that would be useful for those who enter the construction business or even simply choose to work on their own home improvement projects.
The project, though, was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the death of previous instructor Brett Dawson in December 2021.
The district oversaw the moving of the house, and secured a foundation for it.
Students recently began doing demolition work, removing plaster and lath walls in order to make infrastructure improvements for electrical, plumbing and heating and cooling systems. Those systems are all outdated and need to be replaced, Settlemeyer said.
Moving the house also created quite a few cracks in the plaster, Settlemeyer said.
He showed photos of the work that’s been done so far and answered questions from board members. For example, someone asked if the house had wood floors that could be salvaged; yes, the house has some original wood floors that Settlemeyer hoped to refinish, but they discovered places where the flooring had been replaced with plywood. They’ll probably install a combination of carpet and laminate flooring tiles.
The kitchen is rather small so crews removed a center island and plan to raise the ceiling to make it feel larger.
He also talked about plans to build a porch with composite decking material, which is now comparable in price to wood.
“We’re trying to make the house appealing to someone who wants to buy it,” he said.
Because students are now out for summer break, Settlemeyer told the board he would like to hire a demolition crew to take the house down to the studs. 
Students are available only for 2.5 hours each day, Monday-Friday, during the school year. That means there is a limited time to do the work, so it would be more beneficial if they could start fresh in the fall without having to finish the demolition work. They’ll learn more that way, he said.
Superintendent Stacey Fager pointed out that the house will qualify for a property tax abatement when it is sold, as part of the Neighborhood Revitalization Program.
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