After reviewing three options, Mineola School trustees voted Monday to build a new auto mechanics shop, preserving the old elementary school gym which is used by various groups.

The plan will require the district to pull almost $1.5 million from reserves, or some other financing option.

Plans from the 2022 school bond of just under $30 million had to be revised downward after construction costs soared, putting the cost of the new primary school above $28 million after it was first proposed at just under $20 million.

A projected $2.5 million is left in bond funds.

The cost of the new auto shop for $2.7 million is an estimate and not yet based on actual bids.

The option also includes interior renovations to the old elementary school which will serve as a career and technical education (CTE) center for the high school.

The plan does not include the cost of almost $2 million to bring the roof and air conditioning systems up to speed.

The 4,500-square foot auto shop will be built northeast of the CTE center and does not include classrooms. The shop students would use classrooms in the CTE building.

Trustee Kendall Banks presented research on the use of the elementary gym by a variety of groups including cheerleaders, color guard, and the baseball and softball programs during rainy days.

“Obviously gym space is at a premium,” he said.

A grant of almost $300,000 for some new auto shop equipment requires the district to have it in use and documented by Nov. 30, 2026. That was better news than announced previously, with a prior deadline of May 30, 2025.

The two options that did not pass muster included renovating the gym into an auto mechanics shop or stripping down the current shop and rebuilding it. That shop is planned to be used primarily to store ag mechanics projects.

The approved project would cost about $1,487,000 more than the district has left in bond money, meaning it will either have to come out of the district’s $7 million to $7.5 million reserves, or possibly a portion of that through some kind of loan.

Those decisions will be made later, the board decided.

The CTE renovations can proceed soon, while new plans and specifications will have to be completed for the new auto shop.

Construction advisors estimated it could be completed in about a year.

The auto mechanics program has 66 students, and one concern is whether the new shop could attract additional students and the need for additional space.