1969-02-13; Saline Reporter

              he Saline
Vol. 20, No. 2E —- Thursday, February 13, 1969
10c COPY — S4.00 YEAR
20-YEA
ON PARKS
School Total $5,507,402
School officials this week
said they were "more than
pleased" with bids on the new
high school, which came in
just as expected ... or even
a little lower. Said one "We
gal more than we really anticipated in the bid and the
building.".
Total cost of construction
will be $5,507,402. Low bid
for general contractors came
from Spence Brothers, of
Saginaw, §3,985,500. The
electrical contractor will be
Ehle Electric Co. of Ann "Arbor, who bid $570,042. Successful bidder for the plumbing and heating contract was
Boone & Darr, Inc., of- Ann
Arbor, $951,860.
All of the school except
the gym and shop area will
be air-conditioned; and the
242,000 square-foot building
works out to a cost per square
foot of $22.75, very close to
the architect's estimate made
more than a year ago.
The bid includes blacktopping and lighting outside the
building. It does not include
landscaping, finishing, sewer,
or architect's fee- (the architect is Guido Binda & Associates of Battle Creek); and
it does not include remodelling the Junior High School
to accommodate 500 students.
But it is felt that the $6,319,-
000 bond issue for the school
will provide sufficient funds
for all of these. '    >
The bids included completion times of 24 to 29 months,
which mean that the new
school will not be ready for
occupancy before the fall of
1971. But school officials
were "not too disturhed"
that the building will be finished a year later than originally planned. Said one:
"The student population isn't
growing 'quite as fast as we
feared it would. In fact," we
may need only two temporary
buildings next year. And after next year (when the high
school classes more nearly
equal the lower grade classes
in size), growth will slow
down."
The new school was designed with a "core capacity"
of 1200 students with possibility of expansion to 1,500-
'"''   " ft   V* VY''""    '
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SAUNE'S NEW $5,507,402 HIGH SCHOOL
is" shown in the architect's drawing above. In upper left is the gym, flanked by the band room.
The central administration offices (superintendent, etc.) lie between the gym and the auditor
ium (center). At the top of the picture is the
industrial arts area. Classrooms surround both
courtyards, and the High School administration
offices are directly in front. The library, at
right, is surrounded by "study stations" and
rooms for use of audio-visual equipment.
of Accident
rious Condition
Classes Draw Barge Enrollment
Adult education classes at
the High School have drav&t
"a very good response" and
all classes except ceramics
ear will be held, according to Kay
Guenther in the superinten-
Because of the severity of dent's- office-
Bihlmeyer's injuries, deputies     Irl  addition,   an   architect-
feared that ambulance trans- ural drawing class will    be
fer to the hospital might take taught by   Steve    Benedict,
too long; they called for the Hi§h School drafting teacher.
<     helicopter which is stationed The class> not on the original
His wife, Sandra, also 27, in Wayne County. It arrived list> was   requested by   stu-
was also injured in the mis- at the accident scene within dents, but adults may enroll,
hap, and is reported in good a few minutes. Mrs. Bihlmey- Benedict said. The first ses-
condition at the hospital. The er and   Paxton were   trans-
driver of the second car, Gary ported by ambulance.
G. Paxton, 22, of Manchester,  : :	
was  released from the hos- gENI()R ^^
Still in serious condition at struck the Bihlmeyer
University Hospital is John head-on.
G. Bihlmeyer, 27, of 7926
Schneider Rd., who was rushed to the hospital in the Superior Ambulance Co. helicopter, Thursday, after a
head-on auto crash.
7 p.m. Thursday, February
20; painting, taught by Taylor Jacobsen, to start at 7
p.m. Wednesday, March 12;
and driver education, with
sessions to be arranged individually by the instructor
Michael Rotunno.
The school has received
some calls on a proposed
course in blueprint reading;
it will be giyen if more persons enroll, Mrs. Guenther
said.
pital on Friday.
Exact cause of .the accident
was not known. Sheriff's deputies said Paxton's car, east-
PLAN POTLUCK
The   Senior Citizens
will hold a    potluck supper, Monday;
sion will be held from 7 to 9
p.m. Wednesday, February
19.
Other classes wiU   include
sewing    and    knitting    (together)    taught   'by   Cheryl
Club Henes, to   begin at   7   p.m.
typing, date    and
bound on Austin Rd. near followed by cards and games, time to be announced; inter-
Parker Rd., apparently veered at the American Legion hall ior decorating, taught by
across the    center line   "and at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Warren Lewis of Tower Dr.,
ROTARIANS TO HOST
SCOUTS AND LEADERS
Boy Scouts and adult leaders will be guests, and will
present a Boy Scout Week
program, at the Thursday
noon meeting of the Rotary
Club, at Leutheuser's Restaurant. The Rotary Club sponsors Troop 446 of Saline.
Fair Housing,
SEA Groups
Hold Meetings
The city's Fair Housing
Commission met in a work
session Thursday evening and
will hold its regularly-scheduled meeting on Thursday,
Feb. 20. All regular sessions
are open to the public.
The commission is preparing a brochure — for developers, home buyers, renters,
landlords, and others — to
explain requirements of the
city housing ordinance, Don
Jaeger, chairman, said.
Another recently-organized
group is the Saline Education
Association's human relations-
committee, also headed by
Jaeger. The group, which includes a teacher from each
Saline school, will hold its
second meeting "in about a
week" and "will try to formulate policies concerning fair
employment practices", Jaeger said.
He explained: "The larger
schools have problems in
many areas where we have
no problems, but we feel we
should take a stand before
the fact." Many school systems have fair employment
practices written into their
contracts; said Jaeger, "I
think we should have something in the contract, but the
group will have to decide on
that. We haven't gone that
far yet."
Car, Passengers
Pinned by Trees
Three.injured persons were
pinned into their wrecked
car by two trees, early Sunday morning, and a wrecker
was called to free the car before they could be extricated.
Slightly injured were Mr.
and Mrs. Robert Funk, 116 W.
McKay St., and George Black,
of Clinton, a passenger, in
their car. All three were
treated at St. Joseph Mercy
Hospital.
Police said Mrs. Funk was
driving, on US 12 near Willow
Rd., when the car went out of
control, left the road, and got
stuck between the two trees.
Tot Lots, River
Land, MEHA
Site Discussed
UNION MEET SET
Union   Farm Bureau   will
meet at 8:30 p.m. Friday at
the  home  of  Mr.   and  Mrs.
Robert Lindemann on Waterworks Rd.
The city planning commission, Tuesday evening, took a
20-year-Iong look at future
park and recreation needs,
and decided that acquisition
of the necessary land should
be started now.
Planning Consultant Gerald J. Meats described Saline's recreation potential as
"fantastic", noted that "even
the lake and the present park
are not now used to their full
potential", and added that his
firm expects to make specific
proposals on recreation "at a
later date".'
Mears is director of planning for Parkings, Rogers &
Associates, Inc., who are preparing a master plan for Saline under a federal "701"
grant. The plan must be completed within a few months
because the State of Michigan (which administers the
701 program) has revised its
criteria for the grants and it
is unlikely that Saline's will
be renewed, Mears said.
Mears showed a preliminary land use plan (not final,
he emphasized) which shows
possible areas for parks and
recreation, as well as areas
best suited for commercial
and industrial use.
City Administrator Mike
Strait also displayed a map,
showing land in Saline which
is still vacant. It is limited,
and "not all of it would .be
available for this use," Strait
pointed out.
Strait's map also showed
flood land along the Saline
River, both north and south
of town, which he said he
feels is "necessary for the
city to pick up, if only to see
that it is never developed.
Homes in those flood plains
could cost us too much in services and maintenance. Besides, I'd like to see some of
it left natural."
Types of. parks discussed
were small playgrounds near
schools; "tot lots" with small
play equipment; larger parks
for family and organization
use, with shelters, etc; walkways   throughout   the   city;
and nature study areas. (The
Schools Advisory Council has
already proposed a nature
study area near the new higli
school.)
George Anderson, a mera^
ber of the planning commission and former councilman,
proposed that the city  con-
(continued on page 2)
Seeks Traffic Plan
For Maple Road
"What are you going to do
to relieve the traffic problem on Maple Rd.?" Mrs. Don
Church asked the city planning commission at Tuesday
evening's meeting.
The congestion there is
"serious now", she said, and
"you can't get onto Michigan
Avenue from Maple during
the busy hours." The road,
which now serves residences
and a manufacturing plant,
also leads to the site where
the new high school is to be
built; some of the property
there is expected to be developed for muti-family use;
and some acreage has recently been zoned for Mobile
Homes.
Said Mrs. Church: "No
matter how vyide they make
Mchigan Ave-^,.nothing will
do much good on Maple Rd.
except a stop ligtit at the intersection."
The city at one time requested a stop light there but
was refused by the State
Highway Department. (Frequent requests for a stop
.light at Harris St. have also
been rejected.)
Improvement of Maple Rd.
is in the County Road Commission's fiye-year construction plan. Also under consideration by the city is the
possibility that, if the Penn
Central, railroad abandons the
line between the Ford plant
and N. Ann Arbor St., the
right-of-way might be acquired for a limited access
street.
The State Highway Department has no US 12 by-pass
proposed for Sahne.
Just Around...
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The running deer," peeping squirrel, and foraging chipmunk were spotted ... here-and-'ther&^j hvt the{inquisitive lens of.Photographer Otto Gunnesch.