By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
The bad news is there is no air conditioning at the Panther Athletic Center at Great Bend High School. The good news is the cooler months are coming. Monday night, the USD 428 Board of Education approved the purchase of a new chiller. Maintenance Director Dirk Davis said the old chiller was installed in 2008, and the problem seems to be a barrel inside the unit.
"They pulled everything out of it, the refrigerant and all that, and sent it in for testing," he told the board. "It showed there was contamination between the water and refrigerant. That led them to determine that inside that barrel there was a leak or a crack, and that let the water and refrigerant mix together, and that pretty much put an end to that chiller unit."
The board approved a base bid of $138,805 for the purchase and installation of a new Trane chiller. Davis said it made more sense to purchase a new unit than fix the old one.
"Come to find out, this barrel that would replace the one on that chiller, it's non-existent," he said. "There is no barrel to replace. They could manufacture one, but you're looking at as much money to repair this one and then you don't know what you have and it's already 15 years old."
There is a 24-26-week lead time on large chillers. With Monday's approval, Davis hopes to have the new chiller installed by the end of April or beginning of May.