“Starting over at the elementary school site, the construction company met their goal of getting all foundations in place before Thanksgiving,” Kuhn said. “What will be our gymnasium and our mechanical room, brick work has already started to come up from the ground.”
Kuhn said construction crews will continue stonework for as long as they can, as temperatures allow.
NOVEMBER UPDATE: Clark-Shawnee construction, renovation project makes progress
“They are going to continue to work masonry until temperatures won’t let them and then they’ll cover everything up for the winter and resume in the spring when the weather breaks,” he said. “But we are starting to come up off the ground with bricks and it’s really an exciting time. If you drive by on either Possum or Selma and look over, you might be able to see three or four courses of brick work coming off the ground.”
As for the high school and middle school, renovation work on the second floor continues.
“Our high school/middle school project, construction workers continue to renovate the second floor, the office and the secure entry vestibule,” Kuhn said. “Those three areas are scheduled to be turned over to us at the end of January and everything’s still on track there.”
Last month, crews focused on three things - underground plumbing, footers and foundation work, along with the first renovation phase of the high school, which was completed in early October.
Clark-Shawnee held a groundbreaking ceremony about a year ago to kick off construction of their pre-K through sixth grade school building.
SEPTEMBER UPDATE: Clark-Shawnee debuts new completion date for new school, renovation
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 30 percent of the cost of the project – about $15 million.
The school will be across the street from Shawnee High School, which is currently undergoing a major renovation.
In late August at a ‘state of the schools’ meeting, Kuhn said the district experienced some budget and weather issues early on in the construction process, pushing back completion dates, but the district has since resolved them.
With those factors in mind, Kuhn said the district expects to have the middle/high school renovations completed the start of the 2020-21 school year with the elementary school completed by March 2021.
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