ROANOKE COUNTY, Va. – After months of delays Roanoke County school leaders have a concrete plan for the renovations at Cave Spring High School.
The school board voted Thursday night to approve Avis Construction's $33 million plan with $2 million in additional add-on projects.
Classes will be held in trailers while the construction goes on instead of in the building which attracted more contractors for this second bidding process. The school board is also adding in a few extra upgrades.
They'll build a greenhouse, bus canopy, upgrade the gym and auditorium and change hallway windows. That brings the project total all in to about $43 million.
"I'm sure it will be a beautiful project when it's finished, the architecturally design and the things everyone have been looking at stays the same," school board member Mike Wray said.
"The plan changed (taking students out of the building) enough to make it a much more attractive project to us so we went after it pretty aggressively and we're excited to be a part of it," Avis Construction president Troy Smith said.
Avis is the company doing upgrades on Roanoke City's Fallon Park Elementary. The Cave Spring project is set for completion by June 2020.
See the full release below:
ROANOKE – The Roanoke County School Board today accepted a bid from Avis Construction Co. for the expansion and renovation of Cave Spring High School. The board has awarded a contract to Avis in the amount of $35,035,000, pending final negotiations and legal review. This includes the base bid and alternates 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7.
In addition, the board has awarded a contract to Aries Building Systems, LLC in the amount of $1,425,381.24, pending final negotiations and legal review for modular classrooms that will be placed on the Cave Spring campus for the duration of the construction project.
The project will include an expansion of the front of the school and a significant renovation of the interior spaces including removing the original hexagon layout. New science classrooms will be constructed and new technology and other equipment will be installed throughout the facility. An entirely new media center will be built. The gym will be upgraded with new floors, bleachers and equipment. The auditorium also will be updated with new seats, carpet, sound system, lighting and curtains. The kitchen and cafeteria equipment will be updated. Initial construction is slated to begin in January 2019.
As part of this project, all students and staff will vacate the current high school building once construction begins. Students and staff in grades 10-12 will move into modular classrooms that will be located adjacent to the school. Students and staff in grade 9 will transition temporarily to Cave Spring Middle School. The project is anticipated to be completed by summer 2020.
“I’m happy that the board has approved this project and we’re moving forward,” said Mike Wray, Cave Spring District member on the Roanoke County School Board. “We worked hard to get this project back on track after the first bid we received,” Wray added. “While it may have taken a little longer to get started than we had originally planned, the end result is we will have a high school that we can all be proud of,” Wray said.
“We are pleased that we will maintain the overall appearance of the design,” Wray noted.
“During this project, we will ensure the integrity of our instruction and that the students and staff will be safe and secure,” said Dr. Ken Nicely, superintendent of Roanoke County Public Schools.
“I’d like to commend the school board for coming together to collaboratively find a way to move this project forward. Our board members are committed to all students in Roanoke County and are working together as one team on this and future projects,” Nicely said.