School District 205 is moving forward with plans to renovate the former Northwoods Church building to be the home of Bright Futures pre-k.
The School Board on Monday approved bid specs for the renovation work, that is scheduled to go out to bid at the end of the month, with board members expected to consider approvals by the March meeting.
Bryan Archibald of Legat Architects says that demo work and construction are set to start shortly after.
“As far as construction goes, construction/demolition will probably start soon after [in] April or May,” said Archibald over Zoom. “The indoor play area… needs to be done this summer, before the beginning of July. And then, the outdoor play area is on that same schedule, so there’s some contract work that needs to get done. I think we have, June 1st or June 4th for it to be completed.”
Board member Maury Lyon clarified that the district was expecting Bright Futures to occupy the space by August of 2023 and Lee Marbach with Russell Construction confirmed.
“You’re right on,” responded Marbach. “We’re looking at a Spring completion of Bright Futures and that’ll allow time for furniture and everything to kind of align with what Maury said. If we’re able to accelerate part of that and get some of it occupied sooner, great. But, we all know the reality we live in with lead times and then with manpower shortage with the high school.”
Marbach says some of the construction will overlap with the high school renovation project but called the future 7-12 learning center the priority project.
Jennifer Hamm, Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations for District 205, told the board the renovation work was estimated to cost $7.1M.
