Mars Area School District will offer a Public Meeting to update the community on the upcoming Mars Area Middle School Renovation Project at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14, at the District’s Administration Office.

At a Special Board Meeting on April 29, Mars Area School Board awarded $13,433,410 in construction bids for the project. The Board also set the overall project budget at $15,373,632.

The project will be completed in five phases, the first of which will begin immediately following the end of the 2018-2019 School Year and will continue throughout the summer months. All remaining construction will take place after students return to school at the start of the 2019-2020 School Year.

When school resumes, the phasing of the construction will enable a total of 27 classrooms and other instructional spaces to remain available to teachers and students at all times, said John Hays of Thomas & Williamson Program Management. All students will remain in the building during construction, the majority of which will take place after school hours.

Phase #1 of the project will include renovations to six classrooms (in the northern portion of the seventh grade wing) as well as wall demolition, floor installation, and light fixture replacement in all specialized classrooms and throughout the building, said Hays. Work will also include the installation of a new floor and new lighting in the gymnasium; the raising of the floor in the Commons (cafeteria); and renovations to expand the kitchen/cafeteria serving area and the school’s LGI (Large Group Instruction) Room.

The guidance and nurse’s offices will be moved to the front of the building near the main office, said Hays. 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.

Phase #2 (to be completed Sept. 10-Oct. 1) will include renovations to the remaining seventh grade classrooms; Phase #3 (Oct. 1-22), the northern classrooms in the eighth grade wing; Phase #4 (Oct. 22-Nov. 12), the remaining eighth grade classrooms; and Phase #5 (Nov. 12-Dec. 12), the remaining classrooms in the southwest corner of the building.

For more information about the project, visit https://www.marsk12.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=1501259&type=d&pREC_ID=1643404.