Construction 50 percent complete at Union Schools
By Paul Hall on Friday, July 23rd, 2021 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
UNION, OR – The Union School District is continuing with construction at 50 percent complete at the Union schools throughout the summer, the campus is closed to visitors. There will be some hold over on construction until next year. The construction is a bond project that is updating current aging building fixtures including the heating system and new windows. The playground areas are also closed for the summer to provide a safe zone around the Bond Construction Projects. The Union School District will be hosting a community tour in the fall after the project is completed.
(More information and history of the bond from Cassie Hibbert, Project Manager) Following bond passage in November 2019, the bond design process and planning occurred during 2020. The project was permitted and bid in early 2021, and construction began on exterior spaces in April 2021. In June 2021, following the close of the school year, the campus has become a full construction site and has been closed to visitors for the summer.
As mentioned, we are just past the halfway point of the summer break. The team is working diligently to complete construction and will be ready to welcome staff and students back to campus for the start of the 2021-2022 school year as planned.
A limited amount of work, such as the elevator, will be completed in Fall 2021 due to nationwide material supply disruptions due to COVID. The High School masonry re-pointing and cleaning will also occur in Fall 2021, as the District was awarded grant funding for that portion just last month. The gymnasium seismic grant rehabilitation work on the Gymnasium will occur during summer 2022.
The bond project is a renovation project inclusive of:
Accessibility upgrades including an elevator to serve the High School, accessible entry ramp at the Gymnasium, restroom remodels
HVAC replacement for all buildings
Electrical service upgrade
Safety and security upgrades including secure vestibules at the High School and Miller Elementary
Restoring the use of the historic main entry at the High School
New parking lot and drop-off area at Miller Elementary, with new front entry at Miller facing Main Street
Gymnasium entry addition
Expanded gym space at Miller Elementary
New roof and windows at Hutchinson Elementary
Interior and exterior painting of buildings
Cleaning and re-pointing of masonry at High School, rebuilding of main entry lower stairs
Commons area in the High School for student gathering
The total project is funded by the following sources. The District has been able to leverage the $4 million contributed by the community’s bond into an additional $7.5 million of grant funding, nearly tripling the investment in the District.
The Union community’s $4 million general obligation bond passed by voters in November 2019
$4 million Oregon School Capital Improvement Matching (OSCIM) grant
ESSER grant funding for HVAC improvements
A recent $20,000 Preserving Oregon grant from the Oregon State Historic Preservation Office for the High School masonry re-pointing and cleaning
$2.5 million seismic rehabilitation grant from Business Oregon for seismic upgrades to the gymnasium. The gym construction work will occur during Summer 2022. Replacement of the gym floor will be the last project at the conclusion of the seismic grant work. The District has just started the design phase for the seismic upgrades and we will be sending out updates to the community in late summer.
The project team is:
BLRB Architects, Bend, OR – architect Kirby Nagelhout Construction Company, Pendleton, OR – general contractor Wenaha Group, Pendleton, OR – project managerWe are also proud to have many of Union County subcontractors working on this project, as one of the District’s goals was to try to spend their bond dollars locally.
