Spokane Public Schools says it recently selected Action Materials Inc., of Cheney, to perform preliminary site work and utility installations as the first stage of the planned $90 million Ferris High School reconstruction and partial renovation project.

The district approved Action Materials' $405,000 bid to conduct work on the eastern portion of the project site, at 3020 E. 37th, on Spokane's South Hill, says Greg Brown, the district's director of capital projects.

Initial site work will include clearing, grading, and removing excess soils, Brown says. The utility work will involve installing new water mains, extending sewer lines, constructing storm drainage, and extending a natural gas main.

The work is scheduled to be completed by mid-July. "By then, we'll have a second round of subcontractor bids for the balance of the school construction," Brown says.

Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane, is the general contractor and construction manager on the project, and Spokane-based NAC|Architecture designed it. The construction cost is estimated at $55 million, and the total cost to equip and furnish the school is estimated at an additional $35 million. The Ferris project is the largest scheduled to be funded by a $288 million bond voters approved in 2009.

The school facilities will have about 265,000 square feet of floor space, including 183,700 square feet of new educational space, when the project is completed in late 2013 or early 2014, the district says.

Most of the school, which will include three connected wings, will be built in the space between the school's five-year-old gymnasium and its auditorium, which will be remodeled, preliminary plans show. Most other buildings on campus, some of which are approaching 50 years in age, will be razed.