By Scott Elpers

With construction and design documents nearly finalized, the early stages of construction on a new Derby middle school could begin as early as March.

Architects with Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey are finalizing the initial round of construction documents for the new school, which is funded by a $66.6 million school bond.

“There is a lot of work going on right now, between our offices and our consultants’ offices,” said Rick Brown, SJCF’s project manager for the new middle school. “We are about ready to wrap up the first section of construction documents that we will be sending off to Coonrod and Associates.”

Coonrod and Associates was hired by Derby Public Schools this past December as the district’s construction manager at risk. The company will oversee the construction projects funded by the bond.

After the first round of construction documents are approved by Coonrod and Associates, grade work for the building pad and parking lots on the new middle school one-fourth mile north of the corner of 63rd Street and Rock Road can begin, Brown said.

“The documents show exactly how the building will sit on the site and be graded,” he said. “That’s the first part of work you will begin to see happening very soon.”

After grade work on the site is complete, utilities and roadwork around the school can begin. Structural work to the new building is slated to begin this summer if everything continues to run on schedule, Brown said.

“The real heavy stuff will start to happen in mid-June,” he said. “You’ll start to see concrete work by that time.”

The new middle school may be the marquee project of the school bond, but several other construction projects are also expected to begin around the same time. 

Bidding for several construction projects throughout the district will begin this month and run through May, including extensive renovations at the current middle school.

Two crews – one inside and another outside – will work on the existing middle school over the summer. Doing as much construction as possible during the summer could keep classroom disruption to a minimum, as well as keep students safely away from the construction site, said Randy Coonrod with Coonrod and Associates.

The goal is to have construction on the existing middle school completed by the start of the school year in 2015. The new middle school could be finished as early as March 2015, said SJCF’s Shannon Bohm.

Other early projects on the school bond timeline are renovations to Oaklawn and El Paso elementaries. Both schools were the first to get new roofs, which were the first completed projects with school bond funds.

All schools, with the exception of the Sixth Grade Center, will get new roofs. The Sixth Grade Center will be demolished near the end of the school bond project timeline.

Cooper Elementary and Derby High School are next on the list for new roofs, which should be completed over the summer, said Bohm. 

“The high school is a very large roof and a very large part of the roofing budget,” she said. “We want to take advantage of this year’s prices for that amount of space.”