The Washington Community School Board is embarking on a mechanical upgrade project for the older wing of the high school.

During a public hearing for the project in Wednesday’s board meeting, Carl A. Nelson Project Manager Jordan Hutcheson explained the project that has been in development for several months, “In summary the project involves several improvements to the 1960’s wing to the high school. Those improvements include HVAC, lighting, new ceilings, new structured cabling, and an expansion of the fire sprinkler system into this wing where it had never been there before, which is a pretty good upgrade and good opportunity to tackle that.”

Hutcheson shared the project will be broken out into five bid packages, and a prebid meeting was held Tuesday night for all prospective bidders which he said went well. The packages are for general construction, fire sprinkler, plumbing and HVAC, electrical, and asbestos abatement.

Business Manager Jeff Dieleman explained that the district plans to use Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, or ESSER, Fund dollars, which are subgrants given to address the impacts COVID-19 has had on school districts. The district has $3.1 million in ESSER funds, which Dieleman says will be devoted to the base project work, with the possibility of using PPEL or SAVE dollars for alternates. Bids are due for the project on December 16th, and Hutcheson will bring recommended bids to award during a special meeting on December 20th.