By Joe Olenick<br><a href="mailto:joe.olenick@lockportjournal.com">E-mail Joe</a>
MIDDLEPORT — Progress is being made with the Royalton-Hartland School District’s $8.3 million capital improvement project.
Superintendent Kevin MacDonald said the district awarded four bids Thursday night for work on the first phase of the project. The low bidders will be notified and, if they agree to work on the project, will be meeting with district officials in the near future. Then after the meeting, construction work sites will be prepared.
“We’re hoping to have a meeting with the low bidders sometime within the next two weeks,” MacDonald said.
The low bidder for the general contracting work was Javen Construction Co. of Penfield, while an electrical work bid was given to Frey Electric Construction Co. of Tonawanda. The low bidder for the heating, ventilation and air conditioning work was Parise Mechanical of Tonawanda; for the plumbing work, it was L & D Plumbing & Heating of Buffalo. All four bids were under budget, MacDonald said.
He said the district will now focus on the second phase of the project, which is in the planning stages. Phase two still needs approval from the state education department, which gave its blessing for the first phase last month. In order to do that, plans and specifications must be drawn up by the district and its architect, McKenna and Associates, and submitted to the department.
Currently, the tentative plan is that the entire project should be completed by the end of the summer, MacDonald said.
In the first phase, an addition will be built at the elementary school that will house an Orleans/Niagara Board Of Cooperative Educational Services program. The addition is a 10-classroom wing BOCES will lease. Phase two will include upgrades to the high school science and art rooms, new generators and regular maintenance items. It also includes improvement work at the middle school.
Residents passed the capital building project in a districtwide vote in January 2008. It has no additional cost to the taxpayer and is funded by state aid.
Contact reporter Joe Olenickat 439-9222, ext. 6241.
