TRAVERSE CITY — Traverse City Area Public Schools approved more than $42.1 million in contracts for Central Grade School renovations.
All Board of Education members present Monday voted unanimously, with Trustee Ty Schmidt absent, to approve 23 bids for the project that will close the district’s largest and oldest elementary school.
The total cost includes a 15% contingency, which is due to the age of the building and is being paid for with capital bond funds.
The project is expected to cost a total of about $51 million, according to meeting materials, which is a reduction from the original estimate of $55 million.
Assistant Superintendent Christine Thomas-Hill proposed moving the remaining $4 million over to Central High School gym renovations, which requires extensive structural work to become ADA-compliant.
Preparations are already underway for the construction project with a substantial completion date in June 2029.
The renovation and reconstruction project includes extensive building and site work and comprehensive upgrades to mechanical, electrical, fire protection and life-safety systems. The plan calls for 32,000 square feet of west wing space to be demolished and an additional 22,000 square feet to be constructed, bringing the total building footprint to 130,000 square feet.
Bids were received June 11 and Paul Thwing, director of capital projects and planning, sent his recommendations to the administration on June 26 after completing the bid review and post-bid interview process.
Administrators recommended approving five of the seven alternates attached to the bids. These alternates included: adding a decorative interior gym entry, replacement exterior doors, third-floor partitions, and snowmelt and trench drains.
Thwing did not recommend adopting a Terrazzo flooring alternate because of the high cost.
Consideration of the “M1 Alternate for Heat Pump Chillers” will be decided at a later date; the board has until its Oct. 12, 2026, meeting to decide without disrupting the project’s costs or timeline, Thwing said. The system uses rooftop heat-pump chillers instead of air-cooled chillers for heating and cooling.
The board will approve budgets for furniture, fixtures and equipment at a later time; that is estimated to cost $1.5 million. Technology costs are expected to run about $1.3 million and will also be approved at a later time.