Lawrence school board members Monday decided to allocate nearly $250,000 more than originally planned for the press box at the new Lawrence High School stadium after the district revised an estimate on how much money was left over from the 2005 bond issue.

Board members actually opted to allocate $80,000 more than district administrators recommended for the press box, including to install an elevator as part of initial construction.

“How can we be ADA-compliant if we have a shaft without an elevator?” board member Marlene Merrill said.

Board members awarded the $496,650 bid for the LHS press box to Lawrence-based B.A. Green Construction. They also directed board members to work with engineers to reduce the cost of the project.

They made the decision after administrators said they could tap into about $411,000 left over from the 2005 secondary school bond issue. The district had set aside more money than it needed to repay the IRS based on interest earned in excess of interest paid on the bonds, administrators said.

Board members have struggled with higher construction costs as they tried to create equity between the two stadiums. Free State High School received an anonymous donation to help cover construction costs.

Frank Harwood, the district’s chief operations officer, said the bids for restroom and concession facilities and the press box at LHS came in about $480,000 higher than originally planned. Construction costs increased, and as part of the equity issue, the district started looking at nicer facilities than ones they originally considered.

The bond interest funds will allow the district to pay for the new press box without allocating any more capital outlay funds, Harwood said. Earlier this month, some board members voiced concerns the higher stadium costs would divert funds from projects at elementary schools.

“It was money that could not be spent on elementary schools,” board President Scott Morgan said. “The board may have done it anyway because we want to do it right, but I think it made it much easier.”

In other business Monday:

l Morgan appointed himself and Rich Minder as the two board members to serve on the district’s task force to study its elementary schools in the next year.

Superintendent Rick Doll has appointed 19 community members to the task force and said he could add more. Chuck Epp, a member of Save Our Neighborhood Schools, said the task force needed to have more representation of people who favor infill developments and walkability around neighborhoods.