By Eric Stevick
Herald Writer
ARLINGTON — The decades-long campaign to build a new Arlington High School moved a giant step closer to reality Wednesday when construction bids for a new campus came in under budget.
Way under.
A sluggish economy apparently worked in the Arlington School District’s favor, with several bids well below anticipated costs.
The district had budgeted $31.1 million for the building and a series of improvements ranging from fields and a parking lot to tennis courts and a stadium grandstand.
The apparent low bid, submitted by Absher Construction Co. of Puyallup, is nearly $1.8 million below the district estimate. Several others are also in the same range.
"Good companies, good bids. It’s better than we all expected," said Heidi Berger-Hansen, construction and capital projects manager for the district.
"This is such great news I can’t even believe it," said Linda Byrnes, school district superintendent.
District staff will analyze the bids over the next few days and the Arlington School Board is expected to award the construction contract at its meeting on Monday.
Voters approved the high school construction two years ago as part of a package that renovates one elementary school, adds another elementary and converts the existing high school into a middle school.
It took 31 years and 15 failed bond measures to get the money to build the new high school. Only one measure, for $1.75 million, passed during that stretch, and that was used to build a library, more classrooms and improved physical education facilities.
The school will be built on a 52-acre parcel, with the school building, fields and parking covering about 47 acres. It will be built just east of Gleneagle Townhomes on land 1.7 miles south of the existing high school off Highway 9.
The building will include about 214,000 square feet and include two-story wings that emphasize academic disciplines, such as science and technology, business and social services, and arts and humanities.
Each wing will have room for general classrooms, with English, math, social studies and foreign language mixed, and no student will be confined to one wing, said Warren Hopkins, a school district assistant superintendent.
"The idea is they will gravitate toward the wings, or houses, and most of the classes will probably be in those wings," he said.
You can call Herald Writer Eric Stevick at 425-339-3446
or send e-mail to stevick@heraldnet.com.
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