Site work began on three different construction projects around the district, giving hope that spring has finally arrived for good.
Workers from Granger Construction began site work for classroom additions at Clear Lake and Oxford Elementary, while site work began at Oxford High School for redoing the drainage on the athletic field and for adding the new tennis courts by the baseball fields.
‘Those are the only projects that are going to get started until school gets out,? Ben Schneider, the Senior Project Manager for Granger Construction. ‘All of the other projects will begin when the kids get out of school.?
At OES, construction crews began clearing ground and laying the foundation for a new kitchen addition in the front of the building, along with five new classrooms in the rear of the building.
At Clear Lake, crews broke ground on four new classrooms that will be added to the west side of the school.
Schneider noted those additions will not be complete until late November or early December.
‘We would have liked to have finished those by the end of the summer so they could have taken advantage of those, but we thought that was a little too aggressive,? Schneider said. ‘Our plan going back to the very beginning of the bond when we put it together was for those to be finished around the Thanksgiving/December time frame.?
The inside renovation projects at OES and Clear Lake are set to begin when summer break begins for students.
Schneider indicated construction projects at the two schools would continue during the day when students started back up in the fall, but they would only take place in the confined areas.
‘There are construction zones and they are fenced in, so our activities will take place inside those zones and not much (at) any other place during the school day,? he said.
All of the other projects at Lakeville, Daniel Axford, Leonard, Oxford Middle School and at the high school are also set to begin when students leave for summer vacation.
‘They will begin roughly when the kids get out and they will be finished before the kids go back to school,? Schneider said.
Schneider noted the safe and secure entrances for all seven schools will start right away.
‘All of those front office interior renovations will be done in the summer months and those new entry faces, those will be constructed in the summer time as well,? Schneider said.
Schneider said everything was running smoothly with the current projects and those set to begin.
‘We were able to hit the marketplace at a really good time and we were able to put a lot more scope than the bond had planned, so that was a big plus for Oxford Schools,? Schneider said. ‘We got ahead of the curve by bidding stuff out in January and February and getting the Board (of Education) to approve the contracts in March.?
‘Everything is going forward as we intended and we are looking forward to getting the projects completed as planned,? Schneider said.