May 2009 - Sound & Communications

a full-size soccer field and space fortwo baseball/softball fields. Accordingto school district plans, the fields willbe shared with city recreational programsas part of a joint-use agreement.At this writing, field completion wasexpected imminently. The elementaryschool, which has been open since August,cost slightly more than $19 millionto build, with $375,550 directed tothe field.In Ocean Springs MS, at this writing,the Ocean Springs School Districtwas expecting to apply for wetlandspermits that would permit constructionof a new high school, which isscheduled to open in December 2011.The district has $11 million lined up forthe new school, and voters approved aproperty tax increase to cover the remainderof the $50 million cost. Apartfrom building a new high school, theplan involves creating a pre-K programfor 300 to 350 children, and expansionand remodeling of the middle and elementaryschools.In the Pacific Northwest, educationrelatedconstruction projects collective-ly valued in the hundreds of millionsare currently underway or expected tobegin this year. Community Colleges ofSpokane is planning about $155 millionof construction. The biggest projectsare a technical education building atSpokane Community College and anew science building at Spokane FallsCommunity College; cost estimates are$34.6 million and $31 million, respectively.Expansion,ModernizationThe biggest Spokane Public Schoolsproject, a nearly $75 million expansionand modernization of Shadle Park HighSchool, is in the third of five phases,with completion expected in Summer2010. Another substantial project,although the timeline is cloudy, is aplanned $37 million science center atWhitworth University, which would bethe initial phase of a planned $53 millionoverhaul of the school’s sciencefacilities.In Pittsburgh PA, the Penn Hillsschool board has voted to advanceplans for a new building for its highschool students. The board authorizedthe architect to develop plans overthe next 12 months. The new 239,400-square-foot high school will accommodategrades nine through 12 and willbe 20,000 square feet larger than thecurrent building, which houses grades10 to 12. At the earliest, the buildingwill open for the 2011-12 school year.Additionally, the school board is mullingmiddle and elementary schoolchanges as part of a long-term fiscalplan: the reconfiguration of buildingsfor kindergarten through eighth gradestudents.Full SlateIn New Brunswick NJ, education-relatedconstruction activity is hopping.The Board of Education, city and statehave undertaken the construction of anew high school in New Brunswick, anew A.C. Redshaw Elementary school,a renovation of Paul Robeson ElementarySchool and three new kindergartencenters. The total cost is estimatedat $70 million. The construction of the74 Sound & Communicationswww.soundandcommunications.com