NILES Middle school construction draws closer

The project will cost more than $14 million with $5.88 million coming from a voter-approved bond issue.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- School board members expect to award contracts next month for the new middle school building.
The board approved construction drawings and bid advertisements Wednesday for the new school.
Total project cost is $14,004,015. Voters passed a bond issue in 1999 to fund the $5.88 million local share. A grant from the Ohio School Facilities Commission is paying for the remainder.
Christopher L. Niemann, project manager for URS Construction Services of Pittsburgh, design company for the project, said bid ads will start Monday. Bids will be opened Oct. 3 and the board would tentatively award the contracts Oct. 9.
The project is expected to take at least 18 months to complete.
What's been OK'd: The budget estimates approved by the board: general construction, $6,406,146; HVAC (heating, ventilation, air conditioning) construction, $1,446,360; plumbing construction, $434,924; electrical construction, $1,144,892; fire protection construction, $232,615.
The school will be a combination one- and two-story brick-and-concrete structure in Brynhyfryd Park off state Route 46 on the city's South Side.
It will house students in grades six through eight and replace the aging Edison Junior High School. The old school is slated for demolition when students move to the new facility.
The new building will include a combination auditorium-cafeteria, gymnasium, music rooms and media center. An elevator will be outside the media center, near the center of the building.
"The whole building is handicapped-accessible," said James S. Olsavsky, architect with Olsavsky Jaminet Architects of Youngstown and Niles.
Another possibility: The drawings also include a metal roof for the building, which Olsavsky said lasts longer than other materials, but whether the building will have a metal roof depends upon how the bids come in.
"The bids will probably come in under the budget," Niemann said. "There's a good possibility you'll be able to afford it."
The budgets approved Wednesday don't include loose furniture, which will be addressed later.
Niemann said the project is running about $8,200 under budget. Site work started in June by Schimley Excavating of Niles.
The board also approved three change orders for the site development contract totaling about $12,670.
The additional money was for removal of debris found outside the clearing limits and replacement with clean fill, $3,312.50; removal of three trees and stumps because of the change with the entry drive, $4,000; and removal of the foundation from a haunted house attraction formerly at the site and replacing it with fill, $5,360.