Mars Area School District will offer a Public Meeting to update the community on the planned Mars Area Middle School Renovation Project at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at Mars Area High School LGI Room.

The renovation project will maintain the same building footprint; but, will include moderate floor plan changes and renovations to the building’s interior. Plans include a seventh grade area and an eighth grade area, each of which will be separated into two teams or houses.

In addition, the guidance and nurse’s offices will be moved to the front of the building near the main office. The technology education classroom will be expanded into existing space; the school’s art and family and consumer science classrooms will be relocated and enlarged; and classrooms will be dedicated for “maker” and robotics labs.

The project will also include the raising of the floor in the Commons (cafeteria) and the removal of the risers in the LGI (large group instruction) Room. And, new lockers and widened corridors are also planned.

The total project cost would be $14,683,427. Around $10 million for the project will come from a 2018 District bond fund and the remainder from residual dollars from a 2016 bond fund that is on hand in a reserve account.

The Board is expected to award bids for the project in late April 2019 and construction is expected to begin immediately following the end of the 2018-2019 School Year. The project is scheduled to be completed in December 2019.

As renovations will be taking place when students are in school in Fall 2019, the District is considering a plan to temporarily house eighth grade in the auditorium area at Mars Area High School. Seventh-graders would remain in the middle school and move within the building as construction progresses.

For more information, call (724) 625-1518.