YOUNGSTOWN Work to start on 2 schools' construction

The school board has awarded contracts on the Taft project.
YOUNGSTOWN -- Dirt should start flying this week at the location of the demolished Harding Elementary School on the city's North Side.
Workers are ready to begin construction of a new, $6.8 million Harding School at the Cordova and Benita avenue site, said Tony DeNiro Jr., executive director of school business affairs.
Work will begin once the Ohio School Facilities Commission reviews contracts and gives the go-ahead. DeNiro expects the district will receive the approval this week.
Shortly after the start of the Harding project, workers will begin building the new, $6.8 million Taft Elementary School at Gibson Street and Avondale Avenue on the city's South Side.
The board of education has awarded contracts on the Taft project. Mike Coates Construction Co. of Niles was awarded a $4.5 million contract for general trades and a $7,000 contract for asphalt shingles; Steingass Mechanical Contracting Co. of Cleveland, $298,000 plumbing contract; Roth Bros. Inc. of Youngstown, $797,000 contract for heating and air conditioning; Fire Foe Corp. of Girard, $84,000 fire protection contract; and Tipton's Lawn & amp; Landscaping Co. of Salem, $32,000 landscaping contract.
Electrical bids rejected
The board rejected all bids for electrical work at Taft, DeNiro said. The lowest bid was $912,000, exceeding the estimated $771,200 cost. DeNiro said the district, construction manager and architect will review the project to determine where extra costs came in.
The buildings are part of the district's six-year, $182.5 million project to build six new schools and renovate 10 buildings. A state grant provides 80 percent of the funding. The rest comes from a local 4.4-mill property tax issue passed in November 1999.