The Clinton Board of Education recently brought Ruyle Mechanical to diagnose the air handling units above the high school gym.

They discovered a lot of problems with the units. Don Hidden from Ruyle Mechanical explains one of those problems is the units, which are original to the 1972 building, have detached from their original positioning.

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There is no guarantee the units would last very long if they were fixed. Hidden explains because of their age, they cannot upgrade them, they can only restore them as they would have been in 1972. He says many schools are going to rooftop airconditoning units, which he feels is a good option.

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Should the Board go with rooftop units, they will be much more efficient. Hidden says during the spring and fall days, when temperatures are traditionally cooler, the rooftop units would circulate cooler air from the outside, keeping air conditioning from running, but still keeping the gym cool.

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The Board of Education discussed completely removing the units from the ceiling. The roof of the high school gym is being redone this summer, Hidden says if that is avenue the district feels they want to take, it would save them money to have that done this summer.

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The Board has decided to work with the architects and Ruyle in what would be the best option to move forward with getting air conditioning installed in the high school gym.

Ruyle's bid for air conditioning did not include removal of the air handler units, but Hidden gave a ballpark estimate of an additional 10 to 20-thousand dollars for removal of the units.