Ask Mr. Answer Person: Why is it that when you attend an event in the NEW High School Gym you have to keep your winter coat on because it is so cold in there? Do we not have enough money to pay for heating?

Mr. Answer Person says:  I thought I would have to do a bit more research on this than I did. It happens that the Decorah School Board talked about the issue on Monday night when they got a facilities update on construction from Buildings and Grounds Director Greg Schaller. The problem, that seems to be concentrated in the upper row seating, is related to the bigger problem of the new air handling systems that were part of the high school renovation.  The automated controls for that system are not yet operating on a very complicated and interconnected network.  Although some manual operation is happening, it does not address all the issues. On top of this, there will be some "learning curves" to work through in a new system. Overcompensating and too much guessing on manual overrides could easily make other areas too warm, including the floor area for the athletes. Officials are working with the subcontractors responsible for the systems and hope within a month things should be better.

Yes, I know, we will probably be in the spring sports by that time. We are hoping for warm weather on that front.