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Another capital project update was given to the School Board of Lee County last week, with many projects going before the capital committee to discuss costs.

Construction Project Management Director Scott Reichenbacher began the discussion with G. Weaver Hipps Elementary School new construction for the pre- K addition. He said with the current requirement of 30,000 square feet, there has been a scope done on the project.

On Oct. 22, the design team was informed the addition will need to be designed as a shelter.

“We talked at the last construction meeting involving this, it looks like GMP will come in between $14 to $15 million. The original concept was 20,000 square feet, which is similar to what we did at James Stephens,” he said.

With additional square footage and an interior play area required the district had to move the existing bus loop out on the campus, which Reichenbacher said was a million dollars worth of site work.

“Everything snowballed,” he said, as the playground had to be moved, too. “So we put that out there. We are going to be discussing that further internally in the capital committee to see if we could fund and move forward.”

The new J elementary school and MM (LAMS) addition was also discussed.

The MM addition, as of Nov. 4, had a 90 percent completed drawing of the structure.

“I have alerted to the potential look at some of the steel at AAA if you choose not to go forward to that,” Reichenbacher said. “That would repurpose that steel if I need to, if we cannot get a credit for it.”

Last Tuesday the school board voted to stop the construction of AAA, a school which was to be built in Estero.

A meeting to discuss a new elementary school, Elementary J, will be held at the new Lehigh Acres Middle School, 651 Sunrise Blvd. from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8.

Elementary J will be built  next to the new Lehigh Acres Middle School on Sunrise Blvd. The construction cost is being supported by revenue raised by the half cent sales tax. The school has a tentative open date of August 2023.

Planning Growth & Capacity Director Kathie Ebaugh said a survey will open on Dec. 3 and close on Dec. 10 for the naming of J. Residents will have the ability to provide names at the community meeting.

The top names will be brought back to the school board on Jan. 11. The final name will ultimately be selected at the end of February when they go out for the second survey.

Riverdale High School campus remodel was another topic among the capital project update. Reichenbacher said they have a firm design, a deed design, which will keep the old gym in place as a common building, and building a new gym and classrooms.

“We project some site work. We want to get started on site work this summer. There is a ton of site work there to improve everything,” he said.

On Dec. 6 a master plan will be presented to the school board and Superintendent Dr. Ken Savage.

“That project, too, is slightly over in what we have projected in terms of construction funding,” he said, adding that going with the new design will require them to go to the capital committee to discuss how to move forward.

A project that has received the green light to move forward is the Transportation Dispatch in Buckingham. The site work will begin on Nov. 22 when bus traffic is at its minimum. The total project cost is $1,508,895.32.

The Veterans Park Academy for the Arts and old LAMS renovation was discussed in terms of its portables. There was a walk through with OAK, general contractor, to discuss the scope of work in Oct. 27, followed by a walk though with subcontractors on Nov. 15 to receive the proposal.

“The projected start date to begin renovations of portables on site that will need help is Nov. 22,” Reichenbacher said.