Gibraltar Ready to Unveil School Drawings

Contractors received the first peek at drawings that will be shown to Gibraltar district residents March 11. Submitted

$29.8 million project focuses on rear classroom wing this summer

Gibraltar school district residents can get a detailed look on March 11 at drawings for a construction project that residents paid for through the largest voter-approved school referendum in county history.

Subcontractors and members of the trades attended meetings at the school late last month and March 5 to learn about project sequencing and deadlines for bids for replacement and improvement of the front-and-center portions of the school, including the middle-school gym.

All the work this summer will take place at the rear of the school building, so middle-school, special education, Spanish and other classes can take place in new classrooms without interruption next school year, according to the CG Schmidt design-and-build team and Superintendent Brett Stousland.

The summer 2024 project is highlighted by 33,000 square feet of construction work in a T-shaped area including a two-story addition filled with classrooms across the back of the building. 

The first set of bids to be let in early March will include earthwork, demolition, footings and foundations, precast concrete, structural steel and site utilities for two years of work. Contracts will be approved in April for that portion of the project. There also will be two-year contracts for everything else it takes to complete the school additions.

The second phase in summer 2025 will include demolition of the front commons area and middle school gymnasium and moving the cafeteria and locker rooms to new rooms near the east edge of the gym. The summer 2025 work also will include building new classrooms in the center of the school; refacing old portions at the front of the middle school; creating a glass-fronted commons areas in front of the new gym; centralizing school offices next to the front commons; and expanding the commons area near the existing competition gym and media center.

Residents can see blueprints, classroom rearrangements, construction-zone traffic patterns and artists’ drawings at the 7 pm March 11 school board meeting. 

Last spring, voters approved a $29.8 million referendum by a 2,755 to 837 margin for the replacement of the outdated, multiple-elevation central portions of the school campus.