Spokane-area school districts expect to kick off more than $34 million worth of construction this year, and are drawing up or seeking public comment on proposed projects worth at least another $81 million.


Add to that another $30.3 million in projects currently under way, and the total of school projects going up, planned, or proposed tops $145 million.


The major projects that are expected to get under way this year include:


Construction of an elementary school at Liberty Lake. Estimated cost: $9.7 million.


Modernization of Bowdish Junior High School: $7.8 million.


Construction of a middle school at Suncrest: $7 million.


Modernization of Trent Elementary School: $4.5 million.


Expansion and remodeling at Skyview and East Farms elementary schools: $2.1 million.


Expansion and remodeling at Mountain View and East Valley middle schools: $2 million.


Expansion and remodeling at East Valley High School: $1 million.


Meanwhile, work is continuing or winding down on several other major school projects that collectively are worth another $30.3 million. Those projects include construction of the new Mount Spokane-Mead High School, the addition of classrooms at West Valley School Districts four elementary schools, and a modernization of Deer Park Junior High School.Central ValleyCentral Valley School District has the biggest share of the looming construction load, with the long-awaited elementary school at Liberty Lake and the planned extensive improvements to 38-year-old Bowdish Junior High.


Were very excited about it, says Dave Jackman, the districts director of auxiliary services.


Construction bids are expected to be opened in early to mid-May for the planned 58,000-square-foot Liberty Lake Elementary School and in late May or early June for the upgrade at Bowdish, he says. Both projects are expected to be completed by the summer of 1998.


Northwest Architectural Co. and ALSC Architects PS, both of Spokane, are the respective architects on the two projects.


The Liberty Lake school will accommodate up to 600 students and will take up about a 15-acre portion of a 37-acre site located in the heart of the MeadowWood residential area. The school district is holding the rest of the site in reserve for future school construction, Jackman says.


The ground-up modernization at Bowdish is even to include changing the shape of the building, through demolition and some new construction, to improve the schools overall layout, Jackman says. East ValleyEast Valley School District will have more projects under way than Central Valley, but theyll be smaller in total dollar value. Theyll include the Trent Elementary modernization, and the upgrades at Skyview and East Farms elementary schools, Mountain View and East Valley middle schools, and East Valley High School.


The district has awarded a $2.1 million contract to Walker Construction Inc., of Spokane, for the Skyview and East Farms projects, says David Cooper, co-owner of Winer Cooper Partnership, of Spokane, which is managing the districts construction projects.


At Skyview, eight new classrooms will be built and the parking lot will be expanded, he says, and at East Farms, four classrooms will be added, the office area will be renovated, a computer room will be constructed, and the parking lot will be enlarged.


Northwest Architectural designed those projects, both of which are expected to be completed in August.


Bruce Winer, Coopers partner, says bids are expected to be opened next month for the middle school and high school projects, all of which should be completed by this fall, and in June for the Trent Elementary project, which is expected to be completed in August 1998.


Improvements at the two middle schools, which will be bid as one project, are to include construction of new classrooms and renovations to the schools administrative areas, locker rooms, and libraries, he says. The Trent Elementary project will be a total renovation, and the high school project will include construction of a creative-arts area and expansion and remodeling of the shop area, he says.


Tan Heyamoto Architects, of Spokane, is the architect on the middle school projects, and ALSC designed the Trent Elementary and high school projects.Nine Mile FallsNine Mile Falls School District plans to seek bids in July for a new $7 million middle school thats to be built just off Highway 291 in the Suncrest area, about five miles north of the community of Nine Mile Falls.


District voters last month approved a bond issue to pay for the project.


District Superintendent Don Baumberger says the 60,000-square-foot school will be constructed on a 30-acre site and will be able to accommodate 500 to 600 students. The project, which also will include development of three baseball fields and a football field, is expected to be completed in August 1998.


The Spokane branch office of Coeur dAlene-based Architects West PA is the architect on the project.


The district built Lakeside High School and Lakeside Middle School six years ago, but is suffering from overcrowding there due to student enrollment growth, Baumberger says. Seventh and eighth grade students will be moved to the new school from the current middle school, and sixth grade students will be moved to the school from the districts two elementary schools, he says.SpokaneSpokane School District 81 doesnt have any major building projects scheduled this year. Instead, its focusing its energy on gathering public input on and refining a proposed $67 million facilities improvement program that would be funded by a bond issue.


The proposal includes modernizing and expanding Lewis and Clark High School, modernizing Rogers High School, expanding North Central High School, replacing Browne Elementary School, and building a physical-education addition at Garry Middle School. It also includes remodeling libraries at Pratt, Madison, and Wilson elementary schools, and making technology improvements at all 48 schools in the district.


The district earlier this month hired three Spokane architectural firmsNorthwest Architectural, Integrus Architecture PS, and Pacific Design Group PSto help it further define several of the projects, says Ned Hammond, assistant to the superintendent for planning and community activities.


The school board likely will decide this fall, after preliminary project planning has been completed, whether to proceed with the bond issue, Hammond says. If the board OKs a bond election, it probably would be held in February or March 1998, and if voters approve the measure, construction could begin shortly thereafter on the projects the bond issue would fund, he says.


The targeted improvements are the result of an eight-month study and assessment of each facility in the district.Medical LakeMedical Lake School District will ask voters on May 20 to approve a $6.25 million bond issue for the expansion and modernization of Medical Lake High School, says Superintendent Neal Powell.


However, the $14 million project is dependent on getting state matching funds, and the district wont know until July 1998 whether those funds will be approved, he says. Therefore, construction wouldnt begin until that summer, at the earliest, and wouldnt be completed until at least the fall of 1999, he says.


The project would entail adding about 55,000 square feet of floor space to the high school, which currently has about 83,000 square feet of space, not including nine portable classrooms located nearby, Powell says. It also would include bringing the entire present facility up to current codes and standards, he says.


The 46-year-old high school has been expanded a number of times over the years, but every phase of it is over 20 years old, so it all qualifies for state matching funds, he adds. Plans call for a number of the portable classrooms to be removed once the latest proposed expansion is completed.


Architects West has been assisting the district with the conceptual design for the planned improvements, Powell says.Current projectsThe largest school project currently under way hereconstruction of the $22.5 million Mount Spokane-Mead High Schoolis expected to be completed in May, says John Dormaier, Mead School Districts director of facilities and planning.


Northwest Architectural is the architect on that project, and Lydig Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the general contractor.


The district doesnt have any major new construction projects starting this year, but has begun developing a 10-year capital facilities plan and should have some future projects identified later by this year, he says.


West Valley School District is wrapping up a $4.2 million project begun last fall to add four classrooms at each of its four elementary schools, says Assistant Superintendent Doug Matson.


R. Redding Construction Co., of Spokane, is the contractor on the project, which should be completed within a month or so, Matson says.


One other big project currently under way is a $3.6 million modernization of Deer Park Junior High School in the Deer Park School District north of Spokane.


Redding also is the contractor on that project, which began last fall and is due to be completed by August. Northwest Architectural designed the project.