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Keith Vandervort ELY – School board members here had few questions Monday night as construction officials provided a building project update during a monthly study session. Representatives from Kraus Anderson and Architectural Resources Inc. are looking to maintain an open dialogue with school officials as the $20 million project proceeds. School administration are meeting regularly with construction officials as the beginning of the 2021-22 school year nears and learning spaces, some temporary, are prepared for students to occupy in just a few weeks. Spaces for band, choir and industrial arts classes, as well as Early Childhood Family Education and other areas must be ready to go by the beginning of September. The first day of the new school year is Tuesday, Sept. 7. Students and staff will be spending in the year in a construction zone as the building project won’t be complete until the beginning of the 2022-23 school year. ....
Keith Vandervort ELY – With numerous questions and feedback in hand, and a recent plea for major adjustments, ISD 696 school board members gathered at a study session Monday night to ponder their next moves for a $20 million building project that is more than $4 million over budget. Following a special study session with district principals and a building facilities committee meeting last week, board members met with the project architect and construction managers to work through the mounting challenges of providing a modern educational facility for the Ely community. More than $12 million in construction bids, mainly for the campus’s new building, were approved earlier this spring. A second bid package, primarily for the renovation and modernization of the district’s existing Memorial and Washington buildings, was budgeted at about $4 million but came in at $8 million. The bids of the second construction package were rejected last month and officials hope to reb ....
Keith Vandervort ELY –No turning back now. Demolition of the Ely school Industrial Arts building started Monday afternoon as the $20 million facility renovation project moves forward for ISD 696. School board members gathered a couple of hours later and were briefed on how they hope to proceed with a project that was bid millions of dollars over budget. District leaders formally rejected the entire second phase construction bid package that came in last month at more than $8 million, twice the amount that was estimated. School officials and project managers are now facing the prospect of working through possible major reductions of as much as $ 4 million in renovating the existing school campus buildings when they re-bid that portion of the project later this fall. ....