The winter of 2008 wreaked havoc on mountain passes and our valley. In addition, WLK Construction of Spokane, the company in charge of building the new West Valley High School , was forced to come up with Plan B to keep the project on schedule.

During January and February, the high school construction project located west of the existing high school on Zier Road , looked more like a huge greenhouse than a building site. The extreme cold weather forced WLK Construction to make a huge tent of clear plastic to cover the site in order to keep the temperature inside warm enough for cement, bricks and mortar to set. During the past months, construction has revolved around stairwells and the gymnasium. Soon the masons will move on to constructing locker rooms and the shop classrooms.

The gym was built first because it’s surrounded by locker rooms on the south, and the auditorium, music room and counseling center on the north. The gym masonry must be completed before the outlying rooms can be constructed. The two classroom wings will quickly follow.

“To date, West Valley has bid $37.1 million dollars out of the estimated $38.5 million of actual construction costs,” explained Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations, Tom Fleming . “The bidding process is just about complete with 93% of the project already bid. This gives the District about a $1.4 million contingency as we enter the next twenty-two months of construction.”

“The budget originally passed by the voters was $52.3 million. The money has been in the bank gaining interest since the District sold the bonds. We have accumulated another $2.5 million in interest. We also committed another $4.7 million in state matching funds to arrive at a total budget of $59.5 million. Additional funds were committed to enable the District to add nine more classrooms to the building and bring the capacity up from 1,200 to 1,500 students. Based on projections, the additional capacity should provide classroom space for the next twenty-five years.”

Although the District has a general contractor to oversee the project, the contractor is still required to use the competitive bid process to subcontract at least 70% of the work. So far, Yakima contractors have bid and received contracts for about $8.3 million or roughly 22% of the project. The District still has several small items to bid out like the flooring and the elevator that will give handicap access to the building.

With warmer spring weather, the work should proceed at a fast pace and soon the site will start looking like a school. Beginning in June, the District will be making some road improvements to Zier Road and 96th Avenue . As part of the project, Yakima County requires the District to develop 96th Avenue south to Spokane Street and also expand Zier Road from two to three lanes. The plan is for these improvements to be completed prior to the start of school in the fall.

The next big phase in construction is to have a good portion of the walls completed by June and the exterior structure complete, including the roof, before the snow flies in late fall. This will allow for indoor construction next winter.

As always, the District will continue to put current information on the District’s webpage. You are also welcome to leave a message on the new high school construction information line (972.6003) or contact Dr. Ansingh (972.6005; ansinghp@wvsd208.org).