Bowling Green City Schools has approval an architect and engineering agreement with DLR Group Inc. for the construction of the new high school, partial demolition of existing high school and conversion of remaining school to an activities center.
The Ohio Schools Construction Commission met in March and voted to give the district’s project final approval, said Superintendent Ted Haselman at Monday’s board of education meeting.
“Now that we have their final approval, we can more forward,” he said.
DLR Group completed the initial work prior to the November election.
“This is a big step in the process. They did a great job initially. …” he said.
According to documents approved at Monday’s board of education meeting, construction of the new high school will begin in October 2025 with the proposed occupancy in June 2027.
Demolition of the south wing of the existing high school will begin in the Fall of 2027 and additional construction into 2028. No move in date has been set for the activities center.
DLR Group will complete the schematic design by September.
The deadline for quotes for construction managers at risk was Friday.
This will be the company that oversees the entire project.
“We are hoping to get a lot of companies to select from and we’re excited to get a quality company on board,” Haselman said.
The new high school includes space for approximately 850 students with a gross square footage of 150,000. The project will proceed with LEED registration/certification.
The school will not include a storm shelter, an auditorium or upgrades to the athletic fields north of the site, according to the approved documents.
The new activities center may support family services, sports events, adult education, community band practices, a food pantry, and other district and community focused programs. A portion of the existing high school will be demolished and a new entry addition/enclosure along the south
side with be designed and constructed. About 54,000 square feet of existing high school will be
renovated in some capacity that shall align with the budget allocation. The full extent of renovation
scope is to be determined.
The hallway connection from the existing high school to the middle school will also be demolished
and both buildings will be enclosed.
The total project budget, including all hard and soft costs, is $72.8 million – the amount that voters approved in November.
The break down is $65,406,671 for the school and $7,393,329 for the activities center.
Also at the meeting, the board:
• Accepted the resignations of Sara Buddemeyer, fourth grade at Crim Elementary effective Aug. 2; Bridget Ely, intervention specialist at Crim effective June 1; Rachel Felver, third grade at Crim effective Aug. 2; and Zachary Yoder, physical education at Crim effective Aug. 2.
• Awarded continuing contracts to Jessica Edens, kindergarten at Kenwood Elementary; Janet Fu, orchestra at the high school and middle school; Rachel Fletcher, second grade at Crim; Bryan Schneider, intervention specialist at the middle school; and Bethany Slembarski, speech language pathologist at Crim.
• Hired for the 2024-25 school year Lilly Ahmed, science at the high school; and Roy Findley, physical education at Conneaut.
• Approved a student trip request for the middle school Women in Stem students to attend Zoo Snooze on May 9-10 at the Toledo Zoo. Costs will be paid via student fundraisers and student borne payments.
• Learned student enrollment was 2,644 as of April.
• Announced the next school board meeting will be held in the Portage municipal building, 110 W. Walnut St., on May 21.
• Learned schools requests included snacks for testing, granola boars and juice boxes at Kenwood; snacks and disposable water bottles for Conneaut; little bottled water bottles and earbuds for student testing at Crim; portable snacks and breakfast items at the middle school; and Goldfish, granola bars and easy grab and go snacks at the high school.
The school nurses have asked for kids size 6 and 6X boys and girls black shorts, kids size Crocs, plain applesauce cups, pudding cups and plastic spoons.
There should be no peanuts in any of the donations.
Monetary donations can be made at the central office for negative school lunch balances and for each school (write in the memo the appropriate school).
