Little Miami Local School District voters passed a bond issue for construction and renovation projects more than a year ago. A great deal of work has been completed behind the scenes during the past 12 months, and the results of this hard work will take shape this summer with the start of the new construction projects.
"The vision of the community and staff is beginning to come to life," said Superintendent Dan Bennett.
The Construction Manager's construction trailer at the high school was the first visible sign to the community that something had begun and much more is scheduled during the coming months.
"We have accepted bids for the high school addition and for the site work at the junior high," said Justin Koenes, Senior Project Manager with Quandel/ Dugan & Meyers.
As the doors inside closed for summer, activities that can be seen outside at Little Miami High School will include:
Additionally, the community will start to see site work and underground utilities being completed for the junior high school. This work will prepare the site for building construction, which is scheduled to start in early September.
The high school addition is the first to commence this summer and will be followed by the new junior high school and the new intermediate school. While the design process for all three projects started simultaneously, the high school planning process was completed more quickly than the others.
"The simplest explanation is that the addition at the high school was less complex and resulted in a faster design process," explained Mr. Bennett. "Much of the design work was completed when the high school was built."
Additionally, the District encountered some challenges in obtaining the deed for the donated land where the intermediate school will be located, which lengthened the design schedule.
The high school addition is scheduled for completion by August 2008, and the new junior high and the new intermediate schools are both scheduled for completion by August 2009. The overall plan, "Excellence with Value," will create additional space to house 5,200 students district-wide with the ability to easily increase capacity to 6,000 students; it provides flexibility for the future by using phased planning.
