Construction pulls ahead at Watson

Construction at the Watson school is well ahead of schedule, while work at South Side High School has begun to lag. But administration officials still predict all work will be done by the start of the next school year.

The additions to Watson and the high school were the main components of the $45.9 million bond that was passed by residents last year.

The plan is to add a two separate two-story additions to the high school — one on the south side of the building and one on the north side. The south addition is currently under construction, and would add eight new classrooms and a new library space.

But construction hit a snag due to the grading — how level the ground is — at the site.

“They had to redo some of the drawings, and that delayed us a couple of weeks,” said Superintendent Dr. William Johnson.

Johnson stressed that although some of the work had been delayed, the overall project was still on track to be done by the end of August, in time for the start of the 2015-16 school year.

The steel for the frame of the addition was originally supposed to be delivered in mid-November, but the grading problem held it up.

“They just finished all the work on the footings and what is essentially the foundation,” Johnson said. “That grading had to be exact.”

The steel was scheduled to be delivered this week, and will be put up as soon as it can. To help expediter the rest of the work, the area will be tented after the steel is put up so that workers can work even on the cold days of the winter.

“You build wiggle room into the schedule,” Johnson said. “Anybody who works construction knows you’re going to run into problems as you go along. Nothing to suggest we’re going to be delayed beyond August.”

At Watson, though, things are going very well. The exterior work is completed and construction workers have already begun on the inside of the addition, which will add three new classrooms and more space to the building.

“They’re moving along very quickly,” Johnson said of the workers at Watson. “They’ll probably be finished well ahead of the end of August.”

If the new classrooms are done before the end of the current school year, Johnson said the district would consider moving kids in right away.

“I think we’ll start using the space as soon as it becomes available,” he said. “Why not? We have to make sure it’s finished though.”