The Council Bluffs Community School District Board of Education on Tuesday was awarded a contract to Midwest DCM of Omaha for the Kanesville Learning Center renovation project. Kanesville is housed in the former Washington Elementary School building at 207 Scott St.
Midwest submitted a bid of $4,965,000 — the lowest of four received on the project. The bid includes one alternate — to remove the stage/platform in the gym and update the finishes in that space as specified.
In addition, Midwest is the contractor for the Early Learning Center, “and we’re happy with what they’ve done so far on that,” said Darrel Meyer, project manager for the district, during a Board of Education meeting Tuesday.
DLR Group is the architecture firm for the project.
The renovation will be funded by some of the district’s remaining Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief money, revenue from the Secure an Advanced Vision for Education one-cent sales tax and up to $1 million from the sale of the Madison Campus last fall, Superintendent Vickie Murillo said.
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The project will include moving the main entrance to the doors on the southwest corner of the building, relocating offices to that area and creating a secure entryway that funnels visitors through the office. A room on the lower level will be converted into the cafeteria, and some classrooms will be moved.
A new elevator will be installed in the building, and the lower level of the south stairway will be widened. Because the three-story building has levels between floors, the elevator will have doors on both ends to serve each level. New restrooms will be added, and existing restrooms will be made handicap accessible. Preliminary plans included creation of a new teachers’ lounge. Furnishings, flooring and paint will be updated.
Outside, basketball hoops will be added to the playground area and part of the playground will be resurfaced.
“We’re also converting part of the playground on the north side into a parking area,” which will have 40 stalls, Meyer said.
The parking lot across the street from the front of the building, which has about nine stalls, will be repaved, sidewalks will be repoured or repaired and the retaining wall will be rebuilt. The school’s brick exterior walls will be repaired as needed, and new landscaping will be added.
Work is expected to begin this week and be substantially complete by June 30, 2023, according to board materials. The building is scheduled to reopen in July 2023.
Kanesville students are currently attending classes at the Ninth Avenue School, which has been used by the Heartland Family Service Therapeutic School in recent years, to clear the way for the renovation project. Students from the Therapeutic School are attending Heartland’s Omaha program this school year but remain under the supervision of the Council Bluffs Community School District.