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Harris-Lake Park School Board Reviews Design, Cost Estimates For Building Project

April 16, 2024 Steve Schwaller

(Lake Park)– The Harris-Lake Park School Board Monday evening reviewed preliminary costs for a new elementary school and some renovations at the middle school/high school. Nick Massman, an architect with F.E.H, says the construction estimate for the new elementary school could be in the range of $15.1 million, which includes design fees and contingencies. Improvements at the middle school/high school were put in the range of $1.2 million, which includes a practice track. That would put the total cost at $17.6 million, leaving about a million dollars left with the bond issue that was passed by voters. H-LP School Board President Lisa Carstensen says that’s very good news…

“I was very pleased to see that the numbers came in under budget and I think the community will be happy to see that as well.”

The board also Monday evening approved a design for the new elementary. Massman says they’ve changed the location of the gym from what was proposed originally, putting it on the east side of the new elementary. Originally it was proposed to be next to the existing middle school/high school gym…

“We put the gym further over there, on the northeast side, more to allow the commons and the gym to be kind of an after hours sort of area. You can lock down the rest of the school so you don’t kind of have kids wandering the halls and things like that.”

Classrooms would be built in a series of pods…

“The three pods was part of the concept that the district wanted from the beginning to kind of have some collaborative spaces built into the design where kids could kind of get out of their classroom and do some more unique activities in these other more collaborative spaces.”

Carstensen says the board likes what they’re seeing in the design…

“We’re really excited to see the plans come together. It’s going to provide a lot of additional space with different classrooms and teacher-student collaboration. Really excited with the kind of open air concept and just excited for the construction to begin.”

Plans call for a bidletting this summer. If the final costs do come in at roughly a million dollars below the bonded amount, those funds would be targeted for a new bus barn. Massman says he’s pretty confident in the numbers he presented last (Mon.) night.

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