Building Briefs

Information on the latest construction projects from the Northeast, Southeast, Rocky Mountains and Pacific regions.

Northeast

 

• Despite significant cutbacks to earlier plans, Brown University in Providence, R.I., is undertaking a five-year capital improvement expected to cost $400 million. The largest projects include a $42 million renovation of the 73,000-square-foot cognitive sciences and linguistics building, a $45 million renovation of a 1920s-era office building and a $40 million project that calls for a single-story, 72,000-square-foot fitness and aquatics center building. Work is expected to begin in summer 2010 and finish by fall 2011.

 

• School officials are reviewing plans for $23.3 million in renovation projects at schools in Granby, Mass. Proposals at Granby Junior-Senior High School include $2.2 million to replace HVAC systems, $1.8 million to replace single-pane windows and $1.7 million to install new electrical services and replace lighting. Other proposals include $8.8 million to upgrade East Meadow School and $10.6 million to renovate West Street School. The East Meadow School proposal includes $950,000 to replace the HVAC system as well as $760,000 to replace the electrical services and lighting. The West Street proposal includes $1.3 million to replace windows and $1 million to replace the HVAC system.

 

• Officials in Rockland, Mass., are planning an $86 million project, scheduled to begin in late November that will connect a new facility to the existing high school, which will also be renovated. The two schools will share an auditorium, library, media center and band room, among other facilities. The new building will have a theater and a 125-seat shared lecture hall equipped with technology for distance learning.

 

 

• Officials in Hartselle, Ala., approved the issuance of $22.1 million in bonds to help pay for a proposed $40 million new high school. The Hartselle School Board unanimously approved one part of the three-part financial plan to fund construction of Hartselle High School. The 52-acre school site on Bethel Road won’t see any activity until the design phase and environmental testing are completed in the next nine to 12 months.

 

• In its first major construction project since the early 1970s, the Sangre de Cristo School District is moving ahead with plans to build a new pre-kindergarten-through-12th-grade school in San Luis Valley, Colo. The $18 million project calls for an 80,000-square-foot school, athletic facilities and two gymnasiums. The project, which is being funded by the Colorado Department of Education’s Building Excellent Schools Today program, is scheduled for completion in time for the fall 2011 school year. GE Johnson was selected to build the school.

 

• A $3 million renovation project at Ville Platte High School in Ville Platte, La., is taking shape. The Evangeline Parish School Board received an overview of the project from architect Perry Watson at its last meeting. The project is expected to go out for bid in May, and work could begin this summer, taking up to 18 months to complete. The main building and junior high building would be targeted for work to begin this summer, and work on the gym would begin next February. The project includes the restoration of the auditorium facility, major renovations to the school lobby and entrance, renovations to the main school building, major work on the school gym and major renovations to the junior high facility.

 

 

 

• Leaders in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., are weighing plans for a $4.4 million skate park and expansion at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School. Expansions at St. Margaret’s include a new middle school building, expanded theater and added parking. The plan would require an amendment to the city’s General Plan that would change two buildings in the Ortega Village Center from commercial zoning to zoning for schools.