The Mehlville School District Board of Education approved a bid last month to move forward with phase one of the school district’s new Central Office.

The board voted unanimously Sept. 21 to approve a $4.96 million bid from Watcher Construction Service, with $155,000 in allowances, for phase one of the new Central Office project. The district has worked with Watcher in the past on the pool restroom and pool deck flooring upgrade.

In September 2021, the school district purchased 5.5 acres of land at 2900 Lemay Ferry Road, next to Mehlville High School, 3200 Lemay Ferry Road, for $2.5 million. The property included a 49,660-square-foot, 2-story office building built in 1983 that once housed medical offices. In addition to that 4.03-acre site, the land purchased also includes an undeveloped 1.58-acre grass lot between the high school and the medical building.

The existing office building will be renovated to serve as the future location of the district’s Central Office, along with other administrative offices, and will be paid through the Facility Department’s capital budget.

Central Office is currently located on the MHS campus. That building, along with the Witzel Learning Center, will be demolished once the new offices are completed.

The first phase of the project is not expected to wrap-up until October 2024. At that time,  phase one move-in would include the IT department, Human Resources department and business office.

The Call first reported in 2017 that previous Superintendent Chris Gaines had suggested that the Central Office and Witzel Learning Center buildings eventually be demolished for green space and their offices moved. The aging buildings that are being replaced are not worth the millions of dollars in repairs that would have to be funded in the next few years to keep them operational, Gaines said at the time.