Kings Local: High‑school site work advances; Columbia addition on track for Oct. 1 turnover

HGC Construction told the Kings Local Board of Education on Tuesday that work on the Columbia addition is substantially complete for summer‑work items and the district’s new high‑school site has advanced through early site grading and foundation bid selection.

The update, presented by Bill Brownback and a colleague identified as Dave from HGC Construction, said crews finished a summer chiller replacement, corridor ceiling and utility upgrades, new sprinkler and electrical conduit installations and a relocated playground at Columbia. “We said we'd do it in 9 months, and I'm standing here happy to report that we are gonna meet that date and turn that thing over in that time frame,” Brownback said. He told the board the contractor expects to “turn over the first piece of this whole program back over to the King's community” by Oct. 1.

The presentation also reviewed early work at the new high‑school site. Brownback described completed elevation grading and large‑scale earth‑moving, calling the job’s spoil pile a recent milestone. He outlined upcoming procurement and construction milestones: rammed aggregate piers and foundations, waterproofing, elevator coordination and underdrain systems were bid as five early packages; structural steel shop drawings and procurement are scheduled to start in October with structural steel installation expected to begin in February 2026.

Brownback told the board the five early bid packages—rammed aggregate piers, foundations/shaft package, below‑grade waterproofing, the elevator package and underdrain systems—resulted in qualified bidders and came in $102,000 under budget. Contractors named in the presentation for those packages were TWC Concrete Services (concrete), CNC Foundations (aggregate piers), Jayco Waterproofing (waterproofing), Tissenkrupp Elevators (elevators) and Sell Horse Equipment Services (underdrain). Brownback said the district obtained three to four bidders on the packages presented and emphasized continued coordination of bids for upcoming trades, including a structural‑steel package expected to hit the street Aug. 28 and a large “balance of the job” package to be issued in October.

The schedule overview projects masonry, plumbing, electrical and concrete slab packages to be bid concurrently in October with expected approvals in early to mid‑November and some trades mobilizing in December. Brownback said the concrete contractor will begin at the lower‑level arena and work upward and that stair shafts should become visible on the site in the November–December timeframe, providing an early sense of the building’s scale.

Board members thanked the presenters for staying on schedule and for the under‑budget result. Assistant Superintendent for HR referenced the GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price) items in the assistant superintendent’s agenda and noted the next large set of trade packages could exceed $4 million before vertical construction begins.

If all bid packages and GMP approvals proceed as described, district and contractor representatives said the project will shift from earthwork and foundations into structural and enclosure phases through late 2025 and into 2026. The board did not make new construction decisions at the public meeting; it heard the contractor update and later voted to approve the assistant superintendent HR consent items that included the presented GMP material.