Cape Girardeau School Board approves construction bid packages

In the opening push of what promises to be a busy building year ahead, the Cape Girardeau School Board on Thursday approved more than $6 million in bid packages for elementary school construction projects.

Board approval at the special meeting was unanimous, although school board president Paul Nenninger was absent. The bids came in a combined 13 percent under budget, according to Neil Glass, director of administrative services for the Cape Girardeau School District.

The packages include more than $3.6 million for construction work at Clippard and Alma Schrader elementary schools, and more than $2.4 million for Jefferson Elementary School.

"Finally we are going to see some work done at these elementary schools other than roof projects," Glass said.

Clippard's construction plans call for two major additions: kindergarten and preschool rooms on the west side, and a multimedia center, according to Glass. The project will turn existing kindergarten space into administrative offices, providing access control to the building, a major initiative in the district's renovation plan. The board also approved alternate bids for enhanced renovations at the elementary school, including $13,971 for cafeteria and gymnasium storage, about $14,900 for American with Disabilities Act access in the restrooms and about $3,400 for automatic urinal flushing systems in the boys bathroom.

Plans for Alma Schrader call for enclosing the school's corridor for complete interior access, the addition of two classrooms, a small office area and a music room. Alma Schrader and Jefferson will include basically identical administration offices at the front of the schools, Glass said, again for better access control. Jefferson's gym floor, the southeast portion of which has sunk as much as 6 inches, will be refloored, a heating, ventilation and air-conditioning system will be installed, and the school's roof will be replaced. The board accepted an alternate bid to install a fluid cooler unit for the building's air-conditioning system at a cost of about $50,400.

At Jefferson, general construction work was awarded to Sides Construction of Cape Girardeau with a bid of $501,343, according to district documents. River City Mechanical of Jackson was the winning bidder for mechanical and plumbing work at $1,125,000, and Roofing Services and Solutions, with offices in Columbia, Mo., and St. Louis, had the winning bid for the roof project at $695,000. Schneider Electric won the electrical contract with a bid of $74,800.

Winning bidders for the Clippard and Alma Schrader projects were Zoellner Construction of Perryville, $2,236,300 for general construction work; River City Mechanical, $1,076,909 for mechanical and plumbing; and Schneider Electric, $315,500 for electrical work.

The construction projects are part of phase two of the Cape Girardeau School District's $40 million facilities improvement plan, approved by voters in April.

The first round of construction included new roofs for Clippard and Alma Schrader. During the campaign for the bond, district officials said the leaky roofs would have to be addressed soon. Bid letting for a variety of other maintenance projects is expected to begin early in 2011, Glass has said.

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