BURLINGTON, Wis.—General contractor and construction management company Scherrer Construction has finished work for the Burlington Area School District’s new Karcher Middle School. The new school is part of a general plan by the district to expand the number of students that can be taught within the district.

Designed by Plunkett Raysich Architects, the $35 million Karcher Middle School encompasses 145,000 square feet of educational space that will be utilized by over 700 students. In addition to modern security features, the school will feature fitness rooms, locker rooms, a common area that offers a library, staff office space as well as a modern cafeteria. When it comes to the actual classrooms themselves, Karcher will offer rooms for STEM, art, music and special education classes.

The new school is meant to replace the original Karcher Middle School, which was 100 years old and had for years been in need of so many upgrades that it was more feasible to replace it entirely than renovate the century-old educational space.

Indeed, the reborn Karcher represents just one small part of the Burlington Area School District’s plans for making improvements across the district to its various schools and support facilities.

“The Burlington Area School District continues to grow, and we’re excited to be able to help them do that with the best equipment and learning technology available,” Dan Bay, senior project manager of Scherrer Construction, said in a recent statement. “As learning continues to evolve, Scherrer is proud to be at the forefront of creating enhanced learning spaces for children to excel in school.”

When inquired by School Construction News as to some of the challenges of fashioning a brand-new school to replace an older one might have entailed, Bay said that the ongoing pandemic presented problems not only for constructors’ health but also for materials that were needed for the buildout.

“As is common for many companies in 2021, the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting supply chain issues continues to be a challenge in the building sector,” Bay said. “Delays in both materials and manpower impacted our overall schedule, however, due to our strong project team and communication efforts, we were able to hit critical milestones and still finish the project ahead of schedule. As a result of completing the project early, we were able to vet out any issues with the new facility prior to the owner taking occupancy.”

Furthermore, Bay added that the new school needed to be built within mere feet of one that was still in use.

“Due to this situation, additional safety measures and coordination efforts were taken to make sure construction did not affect the school’s daily activities and student learning,” he said.

Scherrer Construction has been in operation, and family-owned, since 1928. The firm has several offices in its home state of Wisconsin, and many projects beyond the Badger State as well.

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BELOIT, Wis.—Scherrer Construction Co., Inc., in partnership with Bray Architects, recently completed an $18 million construction project to build the new Garden Prairie Intermediate School within the Beloit Turner School District.

The new 86,000-square-foot building features an updated infrastructure, improved learning environments and an upgraded safety and security system. Construction on the project included a new cafeteria, a two-station gym with a 400-seat bleacher system, a library and media center and a dedicated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) area.

Additionally, the building features themed academic wings such as riverfront, farmland and wilderness to enhance student learning and inspiration. Each wing is equipped with individual locker areas, bathrooms and breakout rooms. The hallways are also designed to be large enough for small groups of students to work in.

“The way we educate students continues to evolve, as do the buildings we teach them in,” explained Ben Templin, principal and executive vice president of Scherrer Construction. “The specialized wings and learning areas throughout the Garden Prairie Intermediate School will help students prepare for the future and learn in the most optimal space possible for years to come.”

The Garden Prairie Intermediate School will replace the Townview Elementary School. The school and its partners celebrated the new school with a ribbon-cutting in late August.

Family-owned and operated since 1928, Scherrer Construction is a full-service general contractor and construction management firm with offices in Burlington, Wis., and Wausau, Wis.

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DELAVAN, Wis.—General contractor Scherrer Construction Co., Inc. is partnering with architectural firm Blue Design Group LLC and civil engineer Point of Beginning, Inc. on a $6.5 million athletic complex for the Delavan-Darien School District, located in the southeastern section of Wisconsin.

The 8,000-square-foot athletic complex broke ground this summer. When finished it will feature a synthetic turf, multi-use football and soccer field, running track, team and storage rooms, as well as redesigned tennis courts. Portions of the original construction, including the bleacher areas, are being preserved but with entirely new bleacher seating to be installed.

The athletic complex project was far from certain, and the Delavan-Darien School District had to convince the public that the new facility was indeed worth the investment. Accordingly, Scherrer Construction worked with the district to campaign for a referendum to appropriate construction funds; the referendum ultimately passed last November.

The new athletic complex will be WIAA-compliant and allow for the Delavan-Darien district to host athletic competitions with neighboring school districts in its state-of-the-art facilities.

Scherrer Construction has been involved in Wisconsin building since the firm was founded in 1928. The company has also worked on projects at Gateway Technical College, Northcentral Technical College, Aurora University, the Marathon School District and various other educational clients. Scherrer maintains offices in Wausau and Burlington.

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