Work progresses on Patterson, Morgan City school projects

The new Patterson Junior High building could be ready to begin accepting students at the beginning of 2017.
The $21 million in bonds to fund the project will be sold June 17, with building design complete by Nov. 1 and the award of the contract to build in March 2015, according to a timeline issued by Firmin Architects.
Fifth Ward Special School District No. 1 voters approved the bonds with a 15-mill property tax during the Oct. 19 election. Residents from the Calumet Cut to Southwest Boulevard in Bayou Vista supported the tax to replace Patterson Junior High and construct a new multi-purpose building at Hattie Watts Elementary.
Patterson Junior High construction is scheduled to begin April 15, 2015, and continue through Dec. 15, 2016, when substantial completion of the main building for grades 6 to 8 is scheduled for completion.
Also at that time, renovation of the two-story fifth-grade building will begin, and students will be relocated from there by Dec. 21, 2016. Partial occupancy of 6 to 8 grades in the new building is slated for Jan. 3, 2017, and demolition of the old classroom building is to begin June 1, 2017.
Substantial completion of the fifth grade building renovations is slated for July 31, 2017, with occupancy of that building for Aug. 15, 2017.
Meanwhile, the Hattie Watts Elementary Assembly and Multi-Purpose Building construction will run concurrently.
Design completion is slated for April 15, with advertisement for bids set for Aug. 15 and awarding the contract two months later.
Construction will be from November through April 15, 2015, with occupancy slated for Jan. 3, 2016.
According to an email from Jim Firmin of Firmin Architects, the schedule is preliminary and non-binding at this time.
In Morgan City, the nearly $3.55 million library construction and air conditioner replacement project is proceeding on schedule with completion scheduled for the summer and occupancy in time for the 2014-15 school year, according to a schedule issued by Carl Blum Architects.
Thursday, the St. Mary Parish School Board approved a library furniture purchase of just under $260,000, the number budgeted by District 3 maintenance board members. Additionally, $50,000 has been awarded from the district’s capital projects fund to purchase books.
Architect Carl Blum is overseeing the project with contractors Bonneval Construction and Bernhard Mechanical.
The project consists of renovation to the existing “old girls gym” for a new library, computer lab, conference room, multi-media studio and work area. A commons area will connect existing corridors. The project also includes replacement of air conditioning equipment that serves all of the second floor classroom and lab areas.
Original plans to create a second floor above the gym were scrapped when fire code updates to existing stairwells proved too costly, according to Maintenance District 3 Chairman Tony Streva.