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River Ridge Construction Update

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The outside of the River Ridge school addition is completed. (Photos by Ted Pennekamp)

The floor in the new middle school gymnasium will soon be done.

Playground equipment has been laid out between the current school building and the new gymnasium.

The floors in the hallways and classrooms in the new addition will be polished concrete.

 

River Ridge school addition continues on schedule

By Ted Pennekamp

 

The $8.86 million River Ridge school facilities upgrade project continues to proceed nicely and is on schedule, said Project Superintendent Andy Kraemer of Kraemer Brothers Construction of Plain, Wis., the general contractor. 

“We should easily be able to be completed by Nov. 10,” said Kraemer, who noted that the outside of the new addition to the school building in Patch Grove is done and the work is now concentrated on the inside. On Tuesday afternoon, Kraemer said that the flooring and cabinet work is mostly what is taking place right now. 

The new addition will have polished concrete floors in the halls and classrooms. Kraemer said polished concrete is very durable, long lasting and very low maintenance.

“The school district is looking to take possession of the new construction around mid-November,” said District Administrator Dr. Jeff Athey. “We are getting excited to see the end of the project.”

Kraemer said that three of the main sub-contractors are still onsite. Schmidt Electric of Platteville is doing the electrical work. Winona Controls of Winona, Minn., is conducting the HVAC work and the plumbing is being done by Hooper Plumbing of Madison.

Athey and Kraemer said that playground equipment for the third and fourth grades has been laid out just north of the new gym where it will be assemble and put in place. Until the area can be properly landscaped and seeded, the third and fourth graders will continue playing down by the softball diamond for recess during the rest of the school year, said Athey.

Athey said there will be a lot of finishing work to be done in October and early November. 

“The electricians have been working on lights, speakers, occupancy sensors, the fire alarms and powering fans in the gym,” said Athey. “They have been pulling wires to outlets and getting power to the majority of the outlets in the school. The HVAC contractor has been working on piping in the boiler room and installing duct work in the new addition, and the insulator has been following close behind to finish insulating pipe in this area.”

Athey said that the painter has finished painting all rooms in the addition, leaving the last coats to the doors, the exterior lintels, and the canopy that is adjacent to the area well cap to be finished.  

The metal panel contractor is finishing up the metal panels on the west and south elevations of the gym. The epoxy floor contractor prepped the floor and is in the process of installation of the flooring and wall covering in the shower areas of the locker rooms.  

The polished concrete contractor is working on the south classrooms and working north. He will continue to grind and prep the rest of the floors to be sealed.

Diggers Hotline was onsite to help with the location for the new basketball hoop that has been installed outside near the rear of the current school building. Kraemer said blacktop was put in place and white lines painted in order to make a small playground area, including the new basketball hoop, at the rear of the building. Kraemer also said a larger area was blacktopped behind the current school building to create approximately 40 more parking stalls.

The acoustical panel contractor is installing panels in the new gymnasium. The wood flooring in the gym is being installed and is expected to be completed by Sept. 29.

Within the next couple of weeks, the gym floor will be stained, and, after that, the new bleachers will be installed, said Athey. Once the bleachers are in, then excavation work around the building will take place as well as seeding.

The new addition to the River Ridge school will be 28,895 square feet and will house eight classrooms and a middle school gymnasium.

FEH Design of Dubuque is the architect for the project, which began on Feb. 27. The masonry phase of construction began on April 24. 

Athey said, during most of the first semester of the 2017-2018 school year, the fifth and sixth grade students will continue attending the school in Bloomington. After Thanksgiving break, those students will then move River Ridge’s Patch Grove facility. All students will then be on one campus.

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