Centralia City Grade School Superintendent Craig Clark says he was a “little shocked” with the bids the district received for the addition project at Schiller School.
Despite the project being a half-million dollars over anticipation, the bids were accepted due to the rising costs of steel and other materials. The bids for construction of the large multi-purpose room totaled about $2.5-million dollars. Clark had hoped for bids closer to $2-million.
Lunsford Architects who will oversee the project that will include work by Shores Builders, Kohrman Electric, Industrial Mechanical, A and W Plumbing and Heating and F.E. Moran Inc. Fire Protection.
Clark says due to the difficulty in getting steel right now and not wanting to start the project to only have it stopped midway due to lack of materials, the project will likely not start until January or February. Construction would then take about 12 months to complete.
Clark is optimistic of getting some of the extra construction cost covered by federal COVID-19 relief funds since the room will allow for students to be spread out from the current gym that is used for breakfast, lunch, recess, as well as gym each day.
