The Lindbergh Board of Education recently voted unanimously to award a nearly $320,000 contract for steel for an Early Childhood Education Annex behind Truman Middle School, 12225 Eddie & Park Road.

Board members also voted unanimously to award a contract totaling roughly $89,000 to construct a salt bin at Sperreng Middle School.

During a special board meeting on Nov. 24, Superintendent Jim Simpson said, “… The reason we’re having this meeting is because time is not on our side on these two items we have tonight, and we need to get construction underway.

“Both of these items are based on (enrollment) growth, either directly or indirectly …,” he added.

Four bids ranging from $319,688 to $389,365 were submitted for the steel work, which includes manufacturing, delivery and installation of the prefabricated metal building. Lindbergh Executive Director of Planning and Development Karl Guyer recommended the Board of Education approve the low bid of $319,688, which was submitted by TriCo Inc. Commercial.

Officials are fast-tracking the construction of the 12,800-square-foot, single-story ECE Annex, which is scheduled to be completed by July 31.

The district sought bids for the steel shortly after the board voted in mid-October to approve construction of the building. Bids were due Nov. 18.

“The steel work can start as soon as possible and will be completed based on an overall schedule being developed for an end-of-July completion,” Guyer told the board.

Board Secretary Karen Schuster asked, “… This is for just the steel portion of it or is this also — then TriCo would be the general (contractor) for the whole project?”

Guyer replied, “This would be for the steel portion only.”

Board Secretary Kara Gotsch, who participated in the meeting by telephone, asked, “So who’s going to do the interior?”

Guyer said, “That will be part of a separate bid package that will come out at a later time in January and that will be for the balance of the entire project.”

Bids for the remainder of the work on the new Early Childhood Annex are due Jan. 13.

Simpson recommended the construction of the annex to replace classrooms currently housed in Dressel School, which will be demolished next year to make way for a new 650-student elementary building.

The new elementary school, scheduled to open in August 2017, will help alleviate the district’s booming enrollment growth.

Lindbergh voters approved a $34 million bond issue in April to fund the construction of the new elementary school, along with critical needs at Lindbergh High School.

Projects at Lindbergh High include doubling the size of the cafeteria, creating two science classrooms from existing classrooms, converting a record-storage room into two new classrooms, modernizing the library and replacing the wood floor and bleachers in Gymnasium 3.

The total cost of the annex is estimated at $2.8 million, with the bulk of that amount being funded through district reserves.

Construction of the ECE Annex will drop those reserves to roughly $21.7 million.

Revenue from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Early Childhood Special Education construction fund could pay for 25 percent to 40 percent of the cost of the annex.

The district’s special-education early childhood classes, along with part-day programs of the Early Childhood Center, are currently in seven classrooms at Dressel School, 10255 Musick Ave.

Along with seven classrooms to replace the lost ones at Dressel, the ECE Annex will include a large multi-purpose activities room that can serve as a gym for the Lindbergh Athletic Association, or LAA, intramural program and for physical education classes at Truman. In addition, the annex will include an administrative reception area and the LAA offices, which are also housed at Dressel.

All seven classrooms in the annex will include an F-5 tornado shelter.

Regarding the new salt bin, Guyer wrote in a memo to Simpson that the planned expansion of the Lindbergh High School cafeteria will be constructed over the existing district salt storage area in the Gymnasium 3 parking lot.

“This area must be replaced and relocated before construction work on the cafeteria expansion starts in March,” Guyer wrote. “Lindbergh Facilities developed a replacement area on the Sperreng Middle School campus adjacent to the print shop loading dock and rear access drive.”

Four bids ranging from $89,588 to $105,182 were received for the construction of the salt bin.

Guyer recommended the board approve the low bid, which was submitted by Turcon Constructors Inc. Bids were due Nov. 12.

“The work can start as soon as possible and will be completed by March 2015,” Guyer told the board.