The San Luis Coastal Unified School District has a new, set price for the renovation of its metal shop building as the many projects authorized under a 2014 bond measure continue.
Acme Construction has the contract for Building D and the school district recently reached a new “guaranteed maximum price” or GMD of some $2.8 million.
Assistant Superintendent Ryan Pinkerton said the D building used to house a metal/welding shop, part of the agriculture education program and an old, unused boiler room, plus storage.
That building is slated to be turned into a new rehearsal room for the band and music program and a new, modern metal/welding shop, Pinkerton said.
The old band room, which is across campus on the south side, will be turned into an expanded cafeteria kitchen and theater program room, as part of a remodel of the school library and cafeteria, which are the two main uses in that building.
As for Building D, Acme was granted a design-build contract and will design and construct the improvements.
Measure D was a $175 million bond measure approved by voters in 2014 in San Luis Obispo, Los Osos, Morro Bay and Avila Beach. Some $120 million was to be spent making improvements to Morro Bay High School and San Luis Obispo High School and $57 million will be spent doing projects at the other 15 district schools.
The cost for Measure D was $49 per $100,000 of property valuation per year. So an average $500,000 home would have to pay an additional $245 a year above the regular property taxes.
The extensive list of projects was expected to take 4-6 years to complete and is well along its way, at least in Morro Bay.
Measure D projects completed at MBHS include: a new pool and aquatics complex (for about $6 million); refurbishing of the tennis courts; moving the wrestling and dance rooms; moving the auto shop to the refitted former bus barn; Building J-700 (formerly the auto shop) turned into STEAM Classrooms and labs; the old gym got a new hardwood floor and its locker rooms were remodeled; and a new, all-weather track was
installed in 2018.
Still to come, classroom renovations for Buildings 200, 300 and 400, the main wings of classrooms, renovation of the plaza/quad area, among other smaller projects.
But perhaps the largest change, aside from the new pool that opened in October 2017, is a new student services center being
built now.
That project, which is taking shape now after starting last summer and continuing all through the school year, will dramatically change the front of the school. It’s anticipated that it will be completed in December.
Two huge pine trees and a grassy area where students used to relax during lunch and breaks are gone. The school’s entrance hasn’t seen much change since it opened in 1959, but the new building and a roundabout student drop-off area in front of it, will make a grand statement.
Also, the new Science/Technology/Arts/Engineering/Math (or STEAM) education center was recently completed and students have already been using it during the school year that just wrapped up for the summer.
That new STEAM lab also replaces the old woodshop classroom, for as Pinkerton explained, the kids today don’t work with wood so much anymore, but use more diverse materials such as plastics.
