SOLON — In March voters approved a $25.5 million bond issue for the Solon Community School District (SCSD) to be used for six specific construction projects tailored to address the needs of growing enrollment. Superintendent Davis Eidahl provided the School Board an update on the projects during a Thursday, Sept. 14 work session.
Expansion of the
Intermediate School
A pre-bid meeting and walkthrough was held Thursday, Sept. 7 with bids due from prospective contractors Tuesday, Sept. 19. It is anticipated the Board will approve the winning bid during their regular meeting Thursday, Sept. 21 with construction to begin in February or March 2024 with completion scheduled for June 2025.
The expansion will add seven general education classrooms, one special education room (and additional dedicated space), one project-based learning room, and a second gym. This additional wing was initially included in the original plans when the school was built in 2017 as an “alternate” (optional), which means design work has already been completed, expediting the project.
Transportation building and site
The district purchased the former truck shop at 507 N. Market St. for $1,100,000 in June for use as a new transportation facility for the fleet of buses and other vehicles. Architectural design is in-progress for office space, sheltered bus parking, and a parking lot with construction work to begin next spring with a July completion.
Spartan Stadium field turf replacement
The turf playing surface is more than 12 years old, outliving the expected ten-year life cycle. Turf replacement is scheduled to begin after Memorial Day with a mid-July completion.
Lakeview Elementary updating
The school is showing its age with major upgrades and replacements planned for the HVAC system, parking lot, classrooms, and gym. The Board is discussing the potential advantages of hiring a Contract Manager at-risk to oversee the project, which is scheduled to start in the summer of 2025. A Contract Manager at-risk is hired to oversee a construction project from design to completion, acting as a consultant to the district while acting as the equivalent of a general contractor. The Contract Manager at-risk acts as an advocate for the school district with incentives to keep the project moving on-time and within budget. The alternative is to go with a Design-Build model in which the district would contract with a single entity to provide both design and construction services.
While work will begin while school is out for the summer, aspects of the project will still be on-going with the resumption of classes in the fall, providing challenges for renovating a school in operation.
Exploration of sites for Indoor Multi-Purpose Facility and District Administrative Offices
The district continues to explore options for a multi-purpose building, which would enable indoor athletic and marching band practices along with other co-curricular, indoor programming, and even community recreational programming.
Also, new District Administrative Offices are planned due to the many issues with the current location in the former middle/high school.
No timeline has been set for either project.

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Construction will begin next spring on an addition to the Solon Intermediate School (SIS). The project will add classrooms and a gym with a June 2025 completion.