The Cravens Elementary School renovation project is moving ahead after the Owensboro Public Schools Board of Education on Thursday voted to approve a $10.9 million construction bid.
A&K Construction was awarded the project after submitting the lowest of five bids. RBS Deisgn Group will handle the architecture.
OPS Director of Maintenance and Technology Chris Bozarth said there will be a pre-construction meeting next week, then they will figure out start date that he hopes is soon.
“We’ll be having them gear up really fast,” Bozarth said. “We have a really aggressive timeline, and the only way to meet that timeline is for us to get started on time.”
Bozarth said the project will take at least 18 months, but could take a bit longer.
“The issue we have is that the building is so small, and our needs and the amount of students we have in that building (are comparatively large),” he said. “To be able to move the students from area to area for us to be able to work on another space is creating a little bit longer timeline than what we typically see.”
Bozarth said the project is essentially a “top-to-bottom” renovation.
Four new classrooms will be added, as will a new gymnasium, performance arts room, and front entrance/administration area.
Other renovations include a new roof and new flooring, as well as new electrical and HVAC systems.
The renovations will be done in phases starting with the rear of the property where the new gym will go. After that, they’ll strategically work around the building based on the time of year and needs.
Bozarth said they don’t want to interfere with educational space, so classroom renovations will largely be done during summer months.
