Wilson school renovations stalledCherokee council frustrated

Though developer Shawn Foutch said renovations of the Cherokee Wilson School building would conclude this spring, stalled repairs and lessening funding have left the fate of the building up in the air. Shawn Foutch of JMAE, LLC based in Johnston, has since proposed a new one-year plan for completing renovations, despite frustrations from Cherokee City Council members about a lack of progress.

Some council members debated at Tuesday’s meeting whether to separate from Foutch’s company or have him demolish the building.

“It won’t be our headache if it comes down, it will be his headache if it comes down,” said Councilman Wayne Pingel. “That’s what he agreed to in his contract.”

Foutch and his company signed onto the Wilson school project nearly five years ago.

“It’s still leaking, so you have mold and water standing inside of the building. It’s very concerning going in there,” said City Administrator Tom Letsche.

Letsche and Councilman Pingel insisted the broken sidewalk and rubble outside the old school’s front doors be cleaned and repaired.

“My suggestion is if these things don’t happen by the end of the summer, we’re done,” said Letsche.

According to Foutch, progress on building repairs has been delayed over the last four years due to first purchasing the property and approving its status as a historic building. Foutch said then renovations stalled due to Covid, and “lately we’ve been delayed because we’ve had to slow down our work to coincide with cash flow.” Foutch added, “We’re getting as much done as we can with that limited cash flow.”

So far, the project has cost nearly $300,000 and Foutch said he is currently in the process of applying for grants up to $3 million. Foutch said grant applications “have been underway for a long time but for various reasons have been delayed.”

He hopes to have answers by September.

City council members cited primary concern with the roof, which Foutch said will cost around $150,000 to repair. Foutch’s outlined one-year plan does not list fixing the roof, but he said he hopes to secure grant money to do so.

“As far as the roof, the finances are stretched,” Councilman Dave Wilberding said. 

No one present at Tuesday’s city council meeting knew how much the roof repair would cost or how much grant funding Foutch had solicited. Foutch and his team have removed garbage and damaged plaster from the building’s interior. They also removed the rotten floors and replaced them with new sub flooring.

“There’s no reason to be putting wood inside when you have water coming through the ceiling,” said Letsche of the subfloor that has been installed.

Foutch said currently they are framing new interior walls with steel studs and stripping and repainting old rusted steel, making the building too dangerous to enter without proper protective gear. Starting this month, Foutch said they will also fix and clean the sidewalks around the building.

Foutch recently outlined a new plan for completing renovations by the summer of 2025. By this July, he said he will clean up outside of the building and replace the sidewalks. By next summer, Foutch’s plan includes “final construction, cleanup and leasing” for the proposed apartment complex of 32 units. The plan does not yet indicate any repairs to the roof.

Despite the frustrations expressed by city council members, Foutch said his new plan is “not subject to approval. They can either like it or not like it, but that’s what my schedule is.”