SOUTH POINT, Ohio -- Site work is under way for construction of new elementary schools in South Point and Burlington, Superintendent Ken Cook said Monday.
Construction on the two schools, which will cost $15,404,424, will begin late this month or in early June and should be finished in about a year, Cook said. The two schools should be ready for students for the 2009-10 school year, he said.
The school district rejected the first round of bids and then signed a project labor agreement with the Tri-State Buildings and Trade Council on the project. The agreement calls for union construction trades to be used on the project. The bids came in $15,000 lower this time, Cook said. Early Construction Co. of South Point is the general contractor for the two schools.
"I think it will work out real well for us," Cook said. "I think we'll get a quality product. We have quality trades working on the project."
Ironton school officials became the first school district in Ohio to sign a project labor agreement with the trades council, which represents thousands of union workers in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. South Point became the second school district to sign a project labor agreement.
"This could be a trend," said Steve Burton, business manager for the building and trades council. "I'd like for it to be a trend. It should be noted that the bids came in lower with the project labor agreement."
The two elementary schools will be about 54,000 square foot, one-story buildings. Both schools will have separate gymnasiums and cafeterias for students from kindergarten through the 5th grade, Cook said.
The new South Point Elementary School will be built on the site of the former South Point Middle School building. South Point Elementary students are staying into their current school until the new one is ready. Meanwhile, Burlington Elementary School students are attending class in the former South Point High School building. The new Burlington Elementary School is being built on the site of the former school which was torn down earlier this year.
The new schools will have 900 square foot classrooms and more technology than the two schools built in 1959, he said.
"We'll have bigger classrooms and the most technologically-equipped elementary schools in the state," he said.
"We hope the schools are under roof by January so construction can continue through the winter," Cook said.
Bovis Lend Lease, a Columbus firm, is construction manager for the elementary schools. The same firm was construction managers for the new South Point High School and South Point Middle School which opened earlier this school year.
Boggs Roofing of Huntington was selected for the roofing work. Ken Houston of Columbus will do the masonry. Dixon Electric of Huntington will do the electrical work. Mechanical Construction Co. of Portsmouth will do the heating and air conditioning. Peterman Plumbing of the Canton, Ohio, area will do the plumbing work while Brewer Fire Protection of the Charleston, W.Va., area will do the sprinkler system, Cook said.
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