HUMBOLDT — Now the fun begins.
Construction crews are digging in for a school renovation project at Humboldt. They’re starting with utilities near the middle school as part of a plan to connect it with the technology building.
“This is an exciting week. Things are moving forward,” USD 258 Superintendent Amber Wheeler said Thursday.
“We’ve been looking at computers and making decisions, which is fun, but now is the time we actually get to see those things in action.”
Voters approved the $17.45 million bond project in May 2022. Most of the work will replace roofs, fire alarms and heating and cooling units, but each school will get a few extra classrooms.
It has taken about a year to complete the design work and get bids for the current phase of the project, which will target the middle school. It includes new restrooms, new classrooms, upgrades to the fire alarm system and roof, and a new HVAC system. This first phase is expected to take about a year and be completed next summer.
It also will include a corridor from the school to the tech building, which also is a storm shelter. The corridor will keep students protected from bad weather and improve safety. Because students won’t need to go outside, administrators can keep all doors locked during the day.
Crews are also starting utility work at the field house to prepare for a new fire alarm system and new HVAC, although that equipment isn’t expected to arrive until September.
“We need them to go in as fast as possible,” Wheeler said.
The unit was ordered in October.
“Right now the problem is how long it’s taking to get things. Thankfully we have a construction manager at risk, Coonrod & Associates, who is managing things for us and making sure items get here when they are needed so the project doesn’t get stalled.”
INITIALLY, district leaders hoped to pass a bond issue in 2020 but delayed the vote because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As they waited, prices increased because of labor shortages and supply chain issues. The bond issue was pared down, and still came in more than $2 million above their estimates for the earlier bond issue.
Since then, some of those issues have improved. It’s still challenging to order supplies in a timely manner.
Preliminary bids for improvements to the elementary school came in much higher than expected. As a result, Coonrod and school board members decided to move that project to the end and wait a little longer before sending the final phase out for bids. Prices are still high, but not as much as they were at the peak of the pandemic.
