Triangle Construction works Wednesday afternoon on the roof of the operations building at the Transportation Center on Eilers Road in Montague. Roof work should be finished in the next two weeks.
Montague Area Public Schools’ construction remains in full swing as winter has taken a break.
The operations center and the storage building at the Transportation Center are the first of the ambitious construction projects Montague Area Public Schools has put in motion through a zero increase bond proposal that was passed last May.
The approved proposal extended the current millage through 2037.
The progress to the Transportation Center has been on budget and staying close to the original schedule.
“The weather earlier in the winter presented challenges with staying on schedule,” said Triangle Construction Project Manager Scott Jernberg. “But we should be able to turn the buildings over to the school on schedule.”
The roof is going on and the inside is getting tackled next, said Jernberg.
Throughout this week and next the roofs will be assembled on the two buildings at the new Transportation Center on Eilers Rd.
Consumer’s Energy was on-site last month to connect power to the buildings, and city water and sewer have been connected to the buildings as well.
After the roofs are completed the focus of the construction will shift to the interior.
Mechanical, heating and electrical work is the next step for Triangle Construction.
“It’s a one to two month process to get the interior setup, installed and wired,” explained Jernberg. “We are looking to be finishing up that aspect in late March or early April.”
The final piece of the Transportation Center construction will be moving the fueling station on-site from its current location by Oehrli Elementary School.
The district should be occupying and operating the Transportation Center between July 1 and Aug. 1, said Montague Superintendent Dave Sipka.
Montague Area Childhood Center
May will bring the beginning of the construction on the Montague Area Childhood Center (MAC), and the district will possibly host a ground breaking ceremony for the building.
The MAC building will serve as the central hub for all of the districts early childhood education.
Programs like preschool, young five’s, Headstart and early child special education will accompany district kindergarten classes in the building.
Sipka said if the state doesn’t require schools to institute full-day kindergarten that moving the first grade classes to the building would be a real possibility.
Feb. 10 is the deadline for subcontractors to submit bids for the MAC building.
As of Tuesday Triangle Construction has distributed over 150 sets of blueprints to potential subcontractors.
Jernberg said he has been pleased with the amount of interest in the project. “It’s a phenomenal number and a positive sign for bid day. We are garnering lots of subcontractor interest.”
Sipka agreed with Jernberg’s assessment, saying that people are going to get “so much out of their money” because contractors are eager to turn in low bids to garner the work in the troubled economy.
The timeline for the MAC building construction is subject to change, but Jernberg believes the building process will go off without a hitch.
By November or December, the 41,000 square-foot building should be up and water tight, according to Jernberg.
The beginning of 2011 will bring construction inside and add finishing touches before summer.
“We expect to be able to turn the building over to the school in June 2011,” said Jernberg.
The design and decision-making process for the MAC building has been very hands on and well thought out for all involved.
“There was lots of input from teachers, the board of education, us (Triangle Construction), and URS, the architect,” said Jernberg, speaking about the MAC building. “It has been a cooperative approach with lots of discussion.”
Schedules and budgets are appearing well within reach for both the Transportation Center and the MAC building.
“Everything is pointing to a very positive outlook,” said Jernberg. “The dollars and cents are staying in acceptable ranges.”
Currently, the MAC building is under budget, according to Sipka.
Montague Area Public Schools and Triangle Construction have built a solid relationship, and Jernberg said he hopes they could continue to work together on future projects.
“Working with MAPS has been phenomenal, they are an open book and very hands on,” said Jernberg. “Working with the community has also been great.”
Sipka said the district is pleased with Triangle Construction.
“They have value engineered lots of our ideas and dreams,” Sipka said. “They provided cost effective ideas to improve our plans and saved us money along the way. The community is getting a great bang for the their buck on all Triangle’s work.”
