Renovations to the high school have been on hold. The original bond was voted for in the spring of 2007 for $110 million dollars, but current prices have created obstacles.
“Budget cuts had nothing to do with it,” Principal Robert Chappell said. “Bids came back higher than expected for things like dirt work, electrical, mechanical and concrete.”
The original plans were less expensive than the current bids from construction firms.
“We planned for it to be $25 million,” Superintendent Doug Harriman said. “The bids exceeded that by $4 million.”
Due to the higher bids, the renovations no longer include the cafeteria and multi-purpose room as part of the new construction. The little theater will be used as the multi-purpose room, and the cafeteria will stay the same. The fine arts complex will still be added.
“The current multi-purpose room is being taken in by the new fine arts complex,” Chappell said. “The plans now are to put the multi-purpose room in the little theater area.”
Initial renovations were scheduled to start in January of 2011, but they will finally begin in about six weeks.
“The builders will be getting the specifics sometime this week,” Harriman said. “We will have bids back in the middle of November. The renovations will start soon thereafter.”
The only changes to the original plan were the cafeteria and and the multi-purpose room, which would have cost $7.1 million.
“We had a meeting with the architects, and we looked at the things we told the community we were going to build,” Harriman said. “The cafeteria and the multi-purpose room weren’t in the original plan.”
The fine arts complex and extra classrooms will help with the growing population which is over 630 students as of this week.
“We actually do need a place to practice,” color guard member senior Berenice Dominguez said. “We have to use the gym to practice our routines, and sometimes we’re not able to practice because other people use it.”
According to choir member freshman Rubena Loewen, the new facilities will make rehearsals go more smoothly.
“I like that we’ll get more room,” Loewen said. “It will make practicing a lot easier.”
Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) is the company hired to do the renovations. CMAR did the new Seminole Junior High as well as the new primary building. According to Harriman, CMAR will work on the high school and primary simultaneously. The renovations will last from a year and a half to two years.