Clark -Shawnee completes portions of building project, ready to show residents

Work continues on construction of the new school in the Shawnee School District. BILL LACKEY/STAFF

Work continues on construction of the new school in the Shawnee School District. BILL LACKEY/STAFF

Renovated buildings in the Clark-Shawnee Local School District are being turned back over as they come to completion, and phase three renovations are coming along, according to a district official.

In a video about the school’s construction progress on Clark-Shawnee’s Facebook page, Superintendent Brian Kuhn said a big area of the middle and high school building has been turned back over to the district and another big part of the building is being renovated.

“The whole north side of the building was turned over to us, that includes 18 to 24 learning spaces, as well as the new office suite,” Kuhn said.

An open house for the Shawnee Middle and High School renovations has been set for 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday.

Kuhn said in the coming weeks and months, there will be updated safety features at the middle and high school.

“We’re going to have a secure entry vestibule that will be back in the front of the building, so the main entrance will move back to the front loop,” he said. “We’re also going to get up and running a new visitor check-in and screening system, which will happen at the front desk when you come in.”

JANUARY UPDATE: Phase 3 begins at Clark-Shawnee construction site, superintendent says

The art wing and old business wing of the building are part of the phase three renovation work which are underway now.

“That will all come back to us in time for school to start in August and that also includes our north gym,” Kuhn said. “They’re putting new bleachers, they’re refinishing the floor, it’s going to look amazing.”

As for the elementary school, the site has been “buttoned up” for the winter with the exception of underground utilities, but the construction team will be back at work if the temperatures stay mild.

“The construction team — they are monitoring these milder temperatures that we’ve been having, and if a window pops up where there’s a good stretch of time where they can get work done because it’s above 28 degrees, you might see some activity on the site again,” Kuhn said. “They’re going to start building the walls around our gymnasium.”

DECEMBER UPDATE: Superintendent: Clark-Shawnee construction, renovation ‘still on track’

The project architect, SHP, will also set up a virtual reality system during the open house to allow visitors to take a virtual walk through of the complete 7-12 campus and elementary school.

Clark-Shawnee held a groundbreaking in October 2018 to kick off construction of their preK through sixth grade school building.

Voters approved a $37 million bond issue in August 2017 to build a new elementary school and renovate the middle/high school. The bond issue was for 5.3 mills for 37 years and will cost the owner of a $100,000 home a little more than $15 a month. The state will cover about about $15 million of the cost of the project .

The school will be across the street from Shawnee High School, which is currently undergoing a major renovation.

Kuhn said the district expects to have the middle/high school renovations completed by the start of the 2020-21 school year with the elementary school completed by March 2021.


The Springfield News-Sun has provided continued coverage of the Clark-Shawnee school building project, tracking monthly developments, including examining the state of the current buildings, attending community forums and digging into what the new building and renovations might look like.

FACTS AND FIGURES

March 12: Open house for Shawnee middle and high school renovations

$37M: Bond Clark-Shawnee voters approved in August 2017

$15M: Amount state will contribute to new/renovated schools

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