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Contracts totaling $5,408,450 were unanimously approved by the Lansing Board Of Education last week for a $7.32 capital project that district voters approved last year.  With contractors approved, District Business Administrator Kate Heath said that exterior work on the elementary school will begin in April, sports facilities work in June, and interior construction is to begin as soon as the school year ends.  Additions and repairs to school district buildings should be completed by next October. 

"All out bids came in favorably, so we were able to award everything," she said.  "The construction for the elementary school cafeteria is scheduled to begin over that first April break.  That will be all outside work, so we'll still have access to the cafeteria and to the kitchen for our students.  They'll put up a barrier on the outside of the building so they can start their work.  I'm hoping to have that completed in the fall.  The workers in the buildings will be very busy this summer, so we are planning around our Recreation and camp activities this summer."

Heath told school board members that the schedule is "fluid" because weather is unpredictable, and the timetable for delivery of materials has been problematic for the last capital project, during which some materials were delivered a month late.

Heath said that bids on the project were favorable to the District, coming in below the budget approved by voters.  This resulted in an unencumbered balance of $403,080.

"We have a couple of different options," she said.  "If things come up that we didn't realize needed to be addressed we can always use that money for them. The discussion we have had is to save that for the next project."

The biggest piece of the elementary school portion of the project is an enlarged and renovated cafeteria, which will be big enough for whole-school assemblies.

"That will be a huge addition for the elementary school needs, in particular push out all the way to the sidewalk," Heath said. "We're also going to secure the front entrance and the office so that it is very similar to the middle school scenario where you walk in and then you can enter the building after you've been vetted by the front office."

In the middle school theatrical lighting and auditorium catwalk repair are the focus.  Heath said the old lighting equipment was used when the district bought it 22 years ago.

The high school front entrance will be changed so visitors check in at the main office before entering the building.  All three school buildings are receiving upgrades to HVAC equipment, and some paving work is included in the project.

Work is also to be done on the technology building, the CSE (former district) office, grounds building and the bus garage, which will get a new fuel dispensing system and fire suppression system.

While major physical education facility upgrades are contemplated for a future capital project, new tennis courts and repairs to lane one of the track on Sobus Field are planned for the coming year.  The three existing tennis courts will be razed to make room for four new ones.

"We currently have three courts.  We'll be ripping those out and replacing them with four courts with some lighting and some fencing," Heath said. "We're repairing Lane 1 on the track. It's in desperate need.  We're trying to hold (repairs to the entire track) off to a larger project so we can continue to use it in the meantime."

Outside work on the elementary school cafeteria is set to begin February 6th.  Work on the tennis courts will start May 4th, and on the CSE office June 1st.  Interior work on all the buildings will begin June 29th, after school has closed.

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