High school construction on schedule

Construction of the new Whitefish High School and remodel of the gymnasium are running on schedule and the early phases of the projects are on budget.

“Things are moving along really well,” said Dow Powell, who is overseeing the work as the school district’s representative.

Powell updated the school board May 14 on the project’s progress and said both the gym work and the excavation and foundation work for the new portion of the school are going as expected.

Crews began work on the remodel of the gym in late February. Work in the gym includes constructing a weight room and mezzanine level, replacing the bleachers and floor, and installing new basketball hoops, acoustical panels and speakers.

The gym floor is completely installed and sealing of the floor is expected to begin this week. Previously, concerns were raised after an inspection of the gym floor revealed that the floor was uneven and might need to be repaired.

“They were able to float the floor so it is level,” Powell said.

The gym is being renovated at a cost of about $850,000. The high school received a state Quality Schools Grant to replace the floor and install new bleachers.

In order to use the grant, work on the gym must be completed by the end of June.

Powell said work is on target to meet the deadline and inspection of the gym by the state is set for the last week of June.

Construction work on the new portion of the high school is moving along after breaking ground in April. The work, which falls under bid package No. 2 of three for the project, includes the sitework, structural steel, underground electrical, excavation and concrete work.

Currently, excavation and fill is about 80 percent complete. Concrete for walls and footings for much of the project has been poured.

Powell said during excavation crews ran into one minor problem when what appears to be a old waste site was discovered.

“Turns out maybe people in the neighborhood used to put fence posts, cans and tires in a hole there,” Powell said. “We were digging along and discovered that. That was over excavated and we removed all of the trashy soils.”

Construction under the second bid package began a few weeks later that anticipated, but Powell said crews have made up some of that time and expects to be close to the original schedule.

Bids for bid package No. 3 are due to the school district by May 30 and the school board is set to vote on the bids in early June. The third phase of the project is the bulk of the work on the new school and remodel of portions of the current school building. The third bid package is expected to cost roughly $10.5 million.