The district’s construction plan includes an addition to Bowman Primary School to expand the building from a first- and second-grade building to a preschool through second grade building; an addition and renovations to Donovan Elementary School; renovations to Berry Intermediate School; construction of a new junior high school and an addition of several classrooms to Lebanon High School.
Superintendent Mark North said since bond issue passage, the district has been working to comply with by the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission’s (OFCC) regulations. They officially were accepted as part of the state’s classroom facilities assistance program, which guarantees state aid for the construction projects, and hired SHP Leading Design as the architectural firm for the project.
Planning committees, which will include community representatives, are forming to begin design work for the additions at Bowman and LHS.
“We looked at which space was most critically needed first,” North said. “The two additions will be the first buildings addressed. Then we will be getting to work on the core design of the junior high school.”
The new junior high will be located just north of the current junior high school on property already owned by the district. North explained a portion of the current facility — the auditorium, gym, locker rooms, maintenance room, technology room, multi-purpose room and the classrooms on either side of the auditorium and gym — will remain. The remainder of the building could be torn down once all other projects are completed.
According to the district’s projected timeline, a general contractor will be selected in April. Construction of the Bowman and high school additions are expected to begin in October and open for students in August 2015. Construction of the new Lebanon Junior High School and the additions and renovations to Donovan Elementary School are scheduled to start in early 2015 and finish in Fall 2016. Renovations to Berry will take place during the 2016-17 school year.
“After the new junior high construction is completed, the students from Berry will be housed in the old junior high until we finish the renovations in Berry,” North explained.
The Ohio Facilities Construction Commission is covering a majority of the project cost, $45.1 million, while the November 2013 bond issue will raise the remaining $27.4 million.
OFCC is responsible for guiding capital projects for state agencies, state-supported universities and community colleges and the public K-12 school construction and renovation program.
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