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Hopewell Area SD advances pre-design for K–6 and 7–12 building projects
Summary
Architects from Draw Collective updated the Hopewell Area SD board on pre-design work including land and hazardous-material surveys, geotechnical testing, programming options and a proposed bidding schedule that would seek K–6 bids in late spring and 7–12 bids at the end of summer; no final decisions were made.
Draw Collective and district administrators presented a pre-design status update to the Hopewell Area SD board on March 3, outlining a multi-step process that will guide potential construction of a new K–6 building and renovations/additions for grades 7–12.
Dan Engan of Draw Collective described the work as being “in the pre-design category right now,” noting the district has started existing-building investigations including a land survey and a hazardous-materials survey at both the junior high and high school sites. He said the team has also scheduled geotechnical testing and is doing programming and test-fitting to convert conceptual “bubble diagrams” into preliminary floor plans.
The consultants presented a draft schedule that would seek public bids for the new K–6 project in late spring and for the 7–12 project near the end of summer. “Bidding them both at the same time is going to be really challenging for contractors,” Engan said, explaining the district is considering phased bidding to improve contractor competition and manage scope against available funding.
Architect Jackie (last name not specified in the presentation) summarized site and program work, including evaluating classroom counts, special-education support spaces and adjacency relationships. The team emphasized that these documents will evolve and that options shared with the board are preliminary. “No decisions of course have been made on anything like that at this stage,” Engan said.
Superintendent Dr. Hopson framed the update as an early-stage planning phase that requires substantial administrative follow-up, from scheduling to grant preparation. The district intends to use the pre-design work to support applications for state public-school grants and to inform later phases of schematic and design development.
Board members asked how the district plans to handle temporary relocations during construction and requested regular updates. Consultants and administration said they will continue a biweekly administrative cadence and will present refined options and cost estimates at future meetings. The architects stressed that decisions about grade realignments, relocations and final scope remain pending while surveys, testing and test-fitting continue.
Next steps identified by the team include completing the hazardous-material survey, geotechnical testing, updating test-fit diagrams based on administrative homework, and preparing grant materials for state review. The administration and Draw Collective plan to return with more detailed schematic design options at upcoming meetings.
