By Erin Hawkins
Olympic Peninsula News Group
SEQUIM — The Sequim School District is in the beginning stages of drafting a plan for school construction.
At Monday’s school board meeting, Bernie O’Donnell, Northwest Area development manager of Vanir Construction Management Inc., presented a tentative plan for the renovation of the district kitchen and Olympic Peninsula Academy (OPA) spaces and the demolishing of Sequim Community School.
O’Donnell said the project would be organized into two scopes of work: one to renovate the district kitchen and OPA spaces, and the other to demolish the 1949 portion of Sequim Community School.
The presentation included a tentative timeline for when the phasing of the projects would be complete.
In June and July, the company will determine the planning, designing and permitting of the project.
From July through October, crews will renovate and repurpose the district kitchen and OPA spaces.
O’Donnell said the project’s contracting method is to “minimize impact and get [the kitchen] up and running as soon as possible.”
The plan for this phase includes using existing state contract services and local subcontractors to provide energy upgrades to these facilities such as HVAC/plumbing, lighting and electric, fire protection, civil/utilities and additional finishes.
O’Donnell said the kitchen and OPA spaces tentatively will be done in late October and the district most likely will operate out of the elementary school kitchens in the meantime.
The second scope of the project will focus on a “salvage and deconstruction of the community school” from July through November.
This phase will include small-works contracts to ensure Sequim Community School is safe first, then bidding out to contractors for the demolition of the 1949 portion of the building.
O’Donnell said most likely the renovations and construction will be done during business hours when contractors operate.
“We never cross construction traffic with students,” O’Donnell assured.
He said the demolition work would be isolated with physical barriers and fencing to keep the construction zone separate from students and the public.
“If for some reason there’s major demolition and we take down something risky, we’ll do it during an independent time frame when safety isn’t at risk,” O’Donnell said.
The project is to close out by December, according to the company’s tentative plan, but O’Donnell said there might be unknowns during the demolition process that might extend the time needed to complete the project.
“The intent is to be out and completely remove the old building by the end of the year,” O’Donnell said.
He said Vanir wants to “provide a positive partnership” with the district and Sequim community and if it’s earned the trust of both, he hopes to establish a partnership for the future.
Vanir is a full-service program, project and construction management company whose core business is K-12 school facility programs. The company has 20 locations across the country including Port Angeles, Bellevue and Quincy.
In other action, the school board:
• Approved Vice President Heather Short as board president and director Brian Kuh as board vice president June 5.
• Approved Springboard as the district’s English language arts core curriculum for sixth through eighth grades and Engage as the district’s English language arts core curriculum for ninth through 12th grades Monday.
For more information about board meetings, visit www.sequim.k12.wa.us/domain/7.
