The Northwest R-1 School District has agreed to spend $5,399,567 to have a fine arts addition built at Valley Middle School and to make some improvements at two other schools.
In addition, Northwest officials agreed to award $477,738.20 in contracts for new playgrounds to be installed at Cedar Springs and Brennan Woods elementary schools.
The Northwest Board of Education voted 6-0 on Oct. 24 to award the $5,399,567 contract to S.M. Wilson & Co. in St. Louis for the Valley Middle School addition and other improvements.
The board also voted 6-0 at that meeting to award two contracts to The Playground Consultants, which serves eastern and southern regions in Missouri, to install the playgrounds at the two elementary schools. The playground at Cedar Springs will cost $252,288.06, and the playground at Brennan Woods will cost $225,450.14.
Retta Tuggle was absent from the meeting.
Revenue from a $28 million bond issue voters approved in April 2023 will be used to fund all the projects.
Fine arts addition
The 5,068-square-foot addition at Valley Middle will include instructional spaces; storage and mechanical rooms and the hallway, or vestibule, leading from the main school building to the addition.
“There will be six different instructional spaces for two disciplines, speech/drama and music,” district spokesman Chuck McPherson said. “The music instruction classroom will also have three practice rooms within it along with a music storage room.”
McPherson said the vestibule will make it safer for students traveling between the main building and addition.
“To access the current building, students have to go into the elements and cross an area vehicular traffic uses,” he said. “The new addition will be attached to the main building with a vestibule, and it will allow each of those disciplines to have their own areas, storage and rehearsal spaces.”
The district will “repurpose” the spaces that used to house the fine arts classrooms “for non-student related activities,” said Mark Janiesch, the district’s chief operating officer.
The addition also will house a storm shelter.
District officials also will use part of the $5,399,567 to upgrade restrooms in Valley Middle and add one at the school.
Canopies will be added to connect buildings and keep students and staff dry, McPherson reported.
“We will also be adding fencing and gates everywhere to essentially form a large secure courtyard that will allow access to all of the buildings on campus,” he said.
Some of those funds also will be used to cover the cost of an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant stairlift and a security window at Brennan Woods.
Construction on the addition and other improvements is expected to start in February and be completed by August 2026.
Additions also are in the works at Northwest High School and House Springs Elementary School.
Playgrounds
The playgrounds to be built at the Cedar Springs and Brennan Woods elementary schools will look similar and will be ADA compliant. Those will include upgraded and safer fall surfaces made of bonded rubber mulch and will feature swings, climbing areas, net climbers and slides, McPherson said.
Cedar Springs will have a second playground designed for students with autism who attend the school.
The installation of the playgrounds at both schools are expected to be completed before winter break starts on Dec. 23.
New playgrounds already have been installed at the district’s Early Childhood Center in House Springs and at the House Springs and Maple Grove elementary schools, with more playgrounds to be built at the district’s other elementary schools.