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NILES — Additions for a new performing arts center and career technical education will be on the way at Brandywine Middle/High School as well as a new baseball field, track resurfacing and parking lot improvements if voters approve a $22 million bond issue proposal next Tuesday.

Those improvements and more will be coming to the district if the bond issue passes. The bond issue will not raise people’s taxes but will extend the current debt millage out into the future for another 18 years. If the bond issue is approved, the work is expected to be done in stages with everything done by the summer of 2027.

At the middle/high school, the CTE addition will cost up to $6.75 million and the new performing arts center up to $9.5 million. Another $650,000 will be spent on renovating the existing CTE area.

Currently, the district has no dedicated space for the performing arts with choir, band and theater rehearsals and performances taking place in school gymnasiums which don’t have the acoustics or set up to adequately show off students’ talents.

While the middle/high school does have a dedicated CTE space at present, that space is not ADA compliant and is not large enough to allow for growth in the skilled trades. The district currently hosts machine shop, auto shop, cabinet making and millwork programs for south county students and could offer more if the bond issue is approved.

Brandywine Superintendent Travis Walker attended a recent Berrien County Board of Commissioners meeting to tout the district’s upcoming bond issue millage renewal and what it means not only for the Brandywine district but other south county school districts.

“The bond will pay for 11 projects that would improve our facilities,” he said. “But most relevant to the county, it would improve our CTE facilities. We have limited space that is not ADA accessible right now.”

“We need to improve our space so we can continue to put kids in industry jobs here in the area so they will stay local,” he said. “That’s especially true in terms of the trades. We have programs in machine shop, auto shop, cabinet-making and mill work.”

The campus around the middle/high school will see upgrades as well. Plans call for a new relocated baseball field, new field turf at the football/soccer field, resurfacing the track and making parking lot improvements, all at a cost of up to $2.55 million.

The current baseball field is not ADA compliant which keeps the district from hosting MHSAA tournament events. The track is near the end of its useful life and needs repairs to prevent athlete injuries.

The major project at Merritt Elementary will be a gym addition which would solve the operational issue of the gym and cafeteria being in the same space. The gym addition is estimated to cost up to $1.7 million. Merritt, Brandywine Elementary and Brandywine Middle/High School will all get secured entries which will cost up to $275,000 each.

What does the bond issue proposal mean for people’s property tax bills? School district officials say it won’t change the amount of taxes people pay and that people will actually see their taxes go down over time. The owner of a $100,000 home with a $50,000 state equalized value will initially pay $195 a year which is the same as it is now.

If approved, the 3.9 mill levy is expected to continue through 2031 at which time the millage rate will go down. Overall, an average millage levy of 2.85 mills is needed to retire the bond over the 18 years. The 2.85 mill levy averages out to $142.50 a year for that same homeowner.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 7 at three locations in Berrien County and one location in Cass County. People can also vote absentee, there is no early voting option for the May election.

The three Berrien County locations are the Bertrand Township Hall, 3835 Buffalo Road, the Niles Township DPW building, 322 Bell Road, the Community Evangelical Free Church, 120 E. Bertrand Road. The polling location in Cass County is at the Milton Township Offices at 32097 Bertrand Road.