Four Bids Taken For Construction Of New Mead High School

The Mead School District opened bids Tuesday night from four Spokane companies for construction of its new high school, the most recent of a long series of steps and lurches toward building the school.

Garco Construction’s basic bid is $22,625,000, Goebel Construction’s is $22,492,617, Lydig Construction’s is $22,273,000, and Shea Construction’s is $22,392,000.

The bids include a base amount and 10 alternates. The contract will be awarded next week depending on the base amount plus any alternates the school board picks, said Allen Swanson, assistant superintendent for finance in the district.

The lowest base amount won’t necessarily end up as the lowest bid, once the alternate amounts are considered.

The bid opening has been a long time coming. Most recently, the new school survived a threatened drought of sorts.

In April, hours before the county Boundary Review Board rejected plans to install public water pipes to the new high school, Gov. Mike Lowry signed a law revoking the board’s jurisdiction over the extension of water to the site.

Whitworth Water District’s pipes already extend to the corner of the school property. Mead School District will pay to extend the pipes to the new school.

Before the potential drought came the flood of site problems.

In the fall of 1993, county commissioners questioned the school district’s site selection process.

Last winter, a Peone Prairie preservation group appealed the choice of the Mount Spokane Park Drive site to the Superior Court. The court ruled that the district acted responsibly.

Despite the many holdups, the new school should be finished by September 1997 - the originally projected finish date.

It’ll be up to a new Citizens Planning Committee to recommend the student attendance boundaries because of the new high school’s opening.

That committee, which will probably start meeting in the fall, will also recommend a comprehensive capital facilities plan.

The Mead School Board will pick about 30 people to serve on the committee. Applications are available at any school building or the district office. They need to be completed and returned by June 30.

, DataTimes