Friday, Oct. 23, 2009

New Mascoutah High School to open by 2011

Construction of a new $38 million high school in Mascoutah should be ready for students by the 2011-12 school year.

S.M. Wilson & Co. in St. Louis was selected among nine bidders last month as the general contractor of the new 273,000-square-foot, two-story building. It will be built directly behind the existing high school building and will have classrooms, laboratories, computer rooms, music and band rooms, a media center, two gymnasiums, cafeteria, an 800-seat auditorium and vocational training areas.

There also will be new athletic fields, as well as an expansion of the current parking lot to accommodate up to 630 student parking spaces. Superintendent Sam McGowan said work got under way last summer with the construction of the baseball and softball fields and temporary parking lot.

Last November, voter approved a $55 million bond issue for Mascoutah School District 19. McGowan said the remaining $17 million was spent on permits and land studies to meet state requirements.

"It all turned out to be right what we predicted as far as cost," McGowan said. "We did get outstanding bids that came in from all of the companies because the various bids between the high and low bidder was very small."

A spokesman for the contractor said that S.M. Wilson has been involved in a number of education building projects throughout the bi-state area, including the new high school building that was recently built in Waterloo.

The new building will accommodate the school district's growing enrollment, which is expected to reach 1,200 by 2012.

Students will attend classes in the existing school until work is completed on the new building. The existing building will then be demolished and new driveways, parking areas and landscaping will be added to the site.