The Elmore County Board of Education just took a major step with building a new school by awarding the construction bid for the project.
At a recent meeting, the BOE awarded the Redland Middle School construction project to the lowest bidder, Auburn-based First Team Construction Company, Inc. The company won the contract for the project with a bid of $20.78 million.
Site grading and the installation of underground infrastructure is still taking place at the site right now. Site grading, which is under way at a cost of $1.4 million by Rodney Griffith Excavating LLC, is expected to be completed sometime in December.
Given the large scope of the project, Elmore County Schools Superintendent Richard Dennis said it will take some time before residents can actually see the structure going up.
The 111,052-square-foot school will be built on a 50-acre site that was donated by county resident and local developer Rodney Griffith. The school, designed by Goodwyn. Mills and Cawood, will cost a total of $26.6 million and will include 32 classrooms, three storm shelters, a gym with lockers, a weight room, a food court-like cafeteria, a media center and several multipurpose classrooms.
The school was designed with future expansions in mind. If needed, the school will be able to double in size. Plans for the school also include spaces for future softball, baseball and football fields.
It will take an estimated two years to build the school. The school is set to open at the beginning of the 2022 school year.
