Construction projects are moving along for Carmel Clay Schools.
With two new elementary schools in the works and upgrades planned at Creekside Middle School, the Carmel Clay Schools Board of Trustees approved two bids at its Jan. 27 meeting.
First, the board unanimously approved bids totaling $29.4 million for 14 contractors to construct the new Carmel Elementary.
“We’ve approved bids for the Clay Center Elementary School. Now, with this bid award, we will be getting completely started on the construction process for the two new elementary schools,” said Roger McMichael, CCS assistant superintendent of business affairs. “The (bid amount) is within the final estimate that we had. We were pleased to see that.”
McMichael said he wasn’t sure when construction will begin. But with the bids awarded, the construction manager will have meetings with the contractors to work out a schedule.
“It takes a certain amount of time to mobilize, get materials ordered and so forth, but we should see work going on there within the next few weeks,” McMichael said.
Board member Pam Knowles asked about how the start of construction will impact the existing Carmel Elementary. McMichael confirmed that construction equipment and vehicles will have their own access to construction sites and will make efforts to not interrupt the school day.
“The absolute first priority will be safety on the job, and the people that we work with and the companies have extensive experience with this, so they know exactly what they’re doing,” McMichael said. “They’ll also make every effort to minimize disruption to the educational program.”
The final bid amount for the new Carmel Elementary is approximately $241,000 less than the final design estimate for the project.
Another bid award was granted to three companies for $1.4 million to complete renovations at Creekside Middle School.
“This is what we would call the midcycle work that we do at our schools,” McMichael said. “Creekside was opened in 2004, so this project will replace most of the finishes on the interior, certainly all the carpeting and wall finishes and so forth.”
McMichael said some of the work will begin before students finish the school year, but most will be done in the summer.
