By Lee Reinsch
Correspondent
DE PERE – Bids for construction projects at West De Pere High School as well as the construction of the new intermediate school should be in by February, when the district will know more about costs and who’s going to do the work.
At the most recent West De Pere school board meeting last month, board members and the public heard an update on those and other projects and bids from Bray Architects representative Clint Selle.
Neighbors who live within 300 feet of the future intermediate school received letters about the project and were invited to an open house.
A handful of neighbors showed up, including four or five who live near the future intermediate school and one who lives near the high school.
The projects are some of those included in the nearly $75 million referendums passed by voters in November 2018.
Among largest of the projects include constructing an intermediate school for grades five and six on property adjacent to West De Pere Middle School, adding a two-story classroom addition onto West De Pere High School, and building a new multi-purpose/athletic facility at West De Pere High School, along with track and stadium improvements.
Selle said things are going as planned, other than a few delays caused by heavy rainfall over the summer.
One roadblock is a major stormwater structure on the high school grounds which needs to be moved before the multi-purpose/athletic facility can be built.
The facility will have a higher roof line than the existing roof line to make room for ductwork, Selle said.
“Right now you’re relying on a ventilation system,” which isn’t the best choice for this project, he said.
Repairing the system can often mean tearing out walls to access it, Selle said.
Construction of the two-story, approximately $35-million intermediate school is slated to begin in March, with doors expected to open in time for the start of the 2021-22 school year.
The intermediate school will be the first public intermediate school in the district in recent times.
Currently, fifth-graders go to the K-5 Westwood and Hemlock Creek elementary schools, and sixth-graders attend West De Pere Middle School along with seventh- and eighth-graders.
The high school additions, including the classroom addition and multipurpose/athletic facility, are also slated to break ground in March, with completion by early 2021, and all other interior upgrades finished up by the end of 2021.