October 31 Update

We're working to get all of the government agencies to sign off on our construction plans in preparation for bidding in late November. The Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) needs to give us permission to go to bid. Agencies such as the County Health Department, Building Department, Energy, Labor and Industries and others are required to review and approve our plans before OSPI will green light our bid process. We plan to post our first advertisement for bids on November 26. Most of our agency reviews are complete and will be submitted to OSPI soon.

Our plans have also been submitted to an independent architectural/engineering firm for constructibility review. These consultants review our plans to be sure that they are clear and that errors and omissions are reduced. I think of this process like proofreading for construction. In addition, we've submitted our plans for a final cost estimate to confirm that we've prepared a project that is likely to be bid within our budget.

The building committee plans to meet on November 12 to review and approve the materials for the interior spaces. They'll also get a look at the Virtual Reality renderings of the interior. There are two views of the Commons space at these links. By clicking and dragging, you can get a 360* view of the space as it is designed.

Commons from Main Entrance. 
Commons from gym access corridor.

These pages take awhile to load, so be patient.

We've begun work with a consultant to identify furniture, fixtures and equipment that can be retained, repurposed and refinished. She'll also work with us to identify items that need to be replaced. We're in the process of inventorying artwork and heritage items (like David Ike's portrait and composite photos of our graduating classes) so that they can be properly stored and a place for them can be prepared in the new school.

Our schedule calls for the first ad for bids will be on November 26. Our  second ad will be on December 3. We'll have a pre-bid walk on December 10. The final addendum will be January 7. Bid opening will be one week later on January 14. Construction will start on February 3. The first things that people will notice are the construction fences going up and the new main entrance to the school being constructed.

We encourage all local tradespeople to make themselves aware of the bid documents and to participate in bidding. It is our hope that our school can be built by local people to the extent that bid laws allow. We plan to advertise heavily in the local area and on our Facebook page, website and this blog so that our local tradespeople can participate fully in this process.

Its Just a Phase

The new high school will be built in five phases beginning in February, 2020 and concluding in August, 2021. Phasing the project allows us to continue to operate school while construction is underway without spending funds on modular buildings and relocating. The drawings in this post all utilize the same color scheme: Green denotes the contractor's area. No students or staff will be allowed in this area during the phase. Blue is a shared area. This is the main drive into and out of the site. Orange denotes the area under construction during the phase. Keeping these colors in mind will help you understand what is happening during the phase.

One of the first things that will happen is the front entrance to the building will be fenced off along with all of the exterior doors to the gym and commons. A new (temporary) front entrance will be created at the site of the current Spanish classroom in the Classroom wing. All entrance and exit from the building will be through this door during construction.

Phase One

Note the new front entrance (in orange). Student parking will be at the baseball field. Students will come to the school via the new pathway and crosswalk and enter through the new front entrance. Phase One will be from Feb.-June of 2020. Construction fencing will be installed and the construction area will be set up for contractor's use along with a temporary fire lane. Site work will commence to prepare for new construction including the transformer and chiller enclosures. In April, the gym and locker rooms will be closed off and renovation of these spaces will begin.

Phase Two 

In June -August 2020, the locker room renovations are nearing completion, site work continues and construction on new classrooms, offices, kitchen and commons gets underway. The Business Lab gets moved to a new location in the Classroom wing and renovations begin on the Shops. A new boiler room begins to take shape as well as the plumbing that attaches to it. Changes to the Art room and Ag classrooms are underway. In this phase, the tennis courts are converted to visitor and staff parking. This will continue throughout construction. The plan is to restore the tennis courts with grants and partnerships after construction is completed.

Phase Three

This phase begins in September of 2020 and continues through December. Focus of this phase is to complete all new construction, site work and boiler/chiller installations with service to the new facilities. During winter break of this year, staff and students will move in and occupy the new spaces- classrooms, offices, commons, kitchen etc. In addition, displaced services will be moved to the Classroom wing to allow for renovation of those spaces- Art, CTE, Family and Consumer Sciences, etc.

Phase Four

January to June of 2021 will see us working to renovate and remodel the interior spaces of the current building. This includes new Science classrooms a new Business Lab a new Family and Consumer Sciences classroom and a new Learning Commons (Library). This means that those classes will meet in vacated classrooms in the old Classroom wing (existing Library). You'll note in this phase that the temporary entrance has been replaced by the new front entrance and that the student parking lot is restored. The new main parking lot configuration will be started at this time.

Phase Five

In this phase, we finish off the construction of the new school and parking lot and demolish the Classroom wing. Phase five takes place during the Summer of 2021 and is expected to be completed in time for school to start that year. A new outdoor classroom space is planned for the area occupied by the Classroom wing along with a new loading dock and service yard near the kitchen. A new greenhouse will be installed on the site of the current hoop house. You'll notice an increase in the amount of parking available as well as clear traffic patterns serving the school and the stadium. This, along with new pathways, crosswalks and signage will make pedestrian traffic safer at all times of the day and night.

These plans are still "broad brush strokes", but will likely not change too much in the coming months. As always, if you would like to see a copy of the permit plans, you're welcome to stop by the office or call for an appointment to chat about the project.