The North Judson-San Pierre School Corporation has chosen a construction contractor for its upcoming elementary school project. Last week, the school board Brown and Brown General Contractors of Wakarusa.
“For the elementary school, we received eight bids, very competitive bids, and Brown and Brown was the successful low bidder,” said project manager Mike Schipp with architecture firm Fanning Howey. “We’ve discussed the contents of their bid and had additional follow-up meetings with Brown and Brown.”
The project will include the addition of a 500-seat gym on the south side of the existing school. The existing gym will then be turned into additional cafeteria space, a multipurpose room, a maker space, a conference room, and a faculty dining room.
Because the bids came in low, school officials were able to add a divider curtain to allow the new gym to be separated into two spaces, plus the restoration of the exterior stucco. With those two alternates, Brown and Brown’s winning bid came to just over $6.8 million.
A new bus garage is also included in the project bond. That bid was awarded to Hamstra Builders of Wheatfield. It submitted the lowest of 10 bids at just over $675,000.
Superintendent Dr. Annette Zupin said crews will break ground on the new gym after spring break, which will require one classroom to be moved. When the school year ends, Zupin expects fourth, fifth, and six grade classes will move to the former middle school, to free up space for classroom renovations.
“By the last day of school, that wing over here, the west wing, has to be totally clean because they are coming in the very next day,” Zupin said. “So we’re talking about moving and getting things over to the middle school that last week of school. It’s exciting.”
She said exactly which classrooms will be used at the middle school will depend on the COVID-19 situation at the time, but plans are in place to keep the elementary students away from the preschool and gaming software business that lease space in the building.
