Westfield Washington Schools is preparing to start work on a major renovation and expansion of three schools in April, after a referendum last year approved $90 million in bonds.
The work will add more than 37,000 sq. ft. to the Westfield Intermediate School, about 40,000 sq. ft. to the Westfield Middle School and about 90,000 sq. ft to Westfield High School, according to architect’s projections reported by IndyStar.
Contractor Skillman Corp. and Indianapolis-based CSO Architects are overseeing the initiative. The district is seeking bids from contractors for the middle school in February and the intermediate school in March.
Plans and prices could be tweaked again as the district receives official bids for the middle school project in February and the intermediate project in March.
The intermediate and middle buildings will have renovated spaces “for project-based learning,” architect Andrew McNeilly was quoted as saying. There will be new rooms for science, technology, math and engineering classes.
The intermediate school’s will be turned into an “Innovation Center” with bookshelves pushed to the perimeter to create hands-on learning centers and flexible floor space, he said.
Meanwhile, at the high school, new classrooms will be open to centralized, collaboration areas, McNeilly said. The performing arts area will be renovated and expanded to include space for the orchestra. There will also be a large production lab with nearby robotics and manufacturing spaces, he said.
About $11 million will be spent on the intermediate school — an increase from the initial $7 million budget — including about $6.8 million for new construction.
The middle school is expected to cost about $17 million, a slight increase from the initial $16.7 million projection, including nearly $7 million for new construction and about $10 million for renovations.
Architects have not released an updated budget for the high school project yet, but initial projections expected it to cost around $42 million. That leaves about $20 million for “districtwide renovations,” which superintendent Sherry Grate said last April would include elementary school maintenance.
