T.W. Clark Construction LLC, of Spokane Valley, has two sizable school projects under way outside of Spokane, with a combined total value of about $2.2 million.

T.W. Clark is erecting a planetarium for Columbia Basin College in Pasco under a $1.2 million contract awarded in June, and that work started last month. Scott Rountree, a T.W. Clark project manager, says the planetarium is expected to be finished by the end of September.

The design calls for renovating a 1,200-square-foot portion of a 2,700-square-foot building to create a lobby and adding an auditorium with a dome that is 50 feet in diameter. A separate contractor is installing a multimedia system that will project images of the night sky onto the inside surface of the dome.

The planetarium project received some state funding as well as community donations, such as a $100,000 contribution from Bechtel National Inc.

Asotin, Wash.-based RGU Architecture & Planning designed the planetarium, Rountree says.

Additionally, T.W. Clark has started work under a $1 million contract to remove asbestos and demolish about 70,000 square feet of the Wapato High School in Wapato, Wash., a city 12 miles south of Yakima.

The demolition work is making room for an extensive addition and remodel with an estimated overall project value of about $35 million. A separate contractor is expected to be awarded the addition and remodel portion of the project, Rountree says.

T.W. Clark started its work at the Wapato site in early June and expects to finish it by early September, Rountree adds.

Voters in the Wapato School District approved a $20 million bond to use toward the project, and the state matched that amount. Architects West Inc., of Coeur d'Alene, partnered with Portland, Ore.-based Dull Olson Weekes Architects on a design of consultation on the project.

The design calls for an addition of 110,000 square feet of space as well as a remodel of 40,000 square feet of current space. The addition will include a second gym, as well as a large commercial kitchen. Classroom space also will be added to the building.

The overall school upgrade is expected to be completed by late summer of 2014 to allow for occupancy of the building by the start of school that fall. The Wapato School District serves about 3,300 students.

In Spokane, T.W. Clark has two major, previously reported school projects under way as well. The contractor started work on the $12.3 million Jefferson Elementary replacement project in early July. It also is erecting a 47,500-square-foot, $9.9 million classroom building at Spokane Falls Community College. The new facility will be located on the south side of the campus, directly east of the administration building.