TWO BIDS RECEIVED ON DIRT WORK AT NEW CAPE GIRARDEAU VO-TECH SCHOOL

Two bids on dirt work at the new Cape Girardeau Vocational Career Center were opened Thursday, a sign that work on the second of two Cape Girardeau school construction projects is on track.

Bids were received from ASA Enterprises and from Nip Kelley Construction Co. The Board of Education meets Monday at noon to award a bid.

The base bid from ADA was $205,600. The base bid from Nip Kelley Construction was $193,000.

The school district will build a 90,000-square-foot vocational-technical school on a site just east of I-55 and south of the new bridge route.

Site development will be the first visible sign for the project.

Architects Tony Sebek of Cape Girardeau and Robert Stearnes of Sikeston said considerable dirt work must be done on the property, which faces South Silver Springs Road.

The back of the lot must have dirt removed. In some places cuts as much as 14 to 18 feet will be needed. The front of the site, closer to Silver Springs Road, will require fill.

When the dirt work is complete, the area will look much different, the architects said.

Depending on weather, the site preparation is scheduled to be complete by the middle of February.

Architects are working on construction documents, which should be completed soon after the dirt work is complete.

The project completion date for the entire project is September 2000.

Work on the district's new elementary school on North Sprigg Street remains on target for opening this spring. Steel work is next on the construction schedule.

Construction of the two buildings is part of the first phase of the district's master plan.

The second phase includes construction of a high school on the same property as the vocational-technical school. Voter approval would be needed to fund the second phase.

According to the master plan, the second phase also brings a change in grade configurations so that elementary schools house grades kindergarten through fourth, the junior high becomes a fifth- and sixth-grade center, the old high school becomes a seventh- and eighth-grade center, and the new high school houses grades nine through 12.