An update on the design and costs for the middle school expansion on the high school campus was given during the Washington Community School Board meeting Wednesday.

Carl A. Nelson Project Manager Jordan Hutcheson informed the board that the schematic design and estimate for the project has been completed, and SVPA Architects President Vitus Bering gave an overview of the design. Hutcheson explained that they are still developing the final design, and he proposed that the district bid out the project in two phases starting with the new building additions and then renovation of current facilities, “I have a feeling people are not going to want to bid on the renovation knowing that it’s not going to start until 2024. So let’s not try to push it and get poor numbers this year, let’s push that off. So with that in mind I’ve got the 4% inflation which is attributed to the entire project and an additional 6% inflation for the time period between 2023 into 2024 and that is only applied to the renovation portion on this budget sheet.”

The board also reviewed three submitted bids for their second sale of general obligation bonds for the project and approved the lowest bid from Northland Securities at a price of $10,103,875 with an average interest rate of about 3.25%. The district sold $5 million of the $25 million bond referendum last November, and they anticipate selling the final $10 million in bonds this time next year. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2023.