HPS approves $3.7 million in projects, including safer doors at Howell High
HOWELL — The HPS Board of Education approved four bids, totaling more than $3.7 million, for various projects on Monday, May 13.
The district will begin construction next month of new youth baseball and softball fields at Three Fires Elementary as part of a nearly $1.8 million project. The current fields are adjacent to Northwest Elementary and will be displaced by the construction of a replacement school building that will begin March 2025.
Demolition of the current Northwest Elementary will begin in 2027. The approved bid includes the cost to construct nine new fields and the updating of two existing fields at Three Fires.
The board also approved a bid of nearly $645,000 to replace the turf field in the Parker Middle School Stadium, used by the HHS boys and girls soccer and lacrosse teams and for physical education classes. The current field is original to the building and extended several years beyond its normal life, according to Howell Schools Director of Communications Tom Gould.
Both projects will utilize funds from the November 2023 bond approval. The turf field construction is expected to begin in September.
A third bid will see the replacement of interior doors and door hardware at Howell High School for just under $655,000.
“Many of the interior doors at the high school are original to its construction in the early 1980s and have begun to deteriorate and experience hardware failures,” Gould said. The project will replace the doors and hinges and include an electronic door access system using access cards rather than physical keys.
That project is funded by a combination of state grants for school safety and will begin in August, Gould said.
Subscribe: Get unlimited access to our local coverage
The final bid approved Monday covers the replacement of existing building automation controls at Three Fires Elementary for just under $639,000. The system allows for remote monitoring and adjustments to the heating and cooling systems at the elementary school, which isn't currently possible.
“That has severely limited the district's maintenance department in maintaining the system,” Gould said. The project will begin in June and is funded by both the 2023 and 2019 bonds.
— M. Alan Scott is a freelance writer for The Livingston Daily. Contact the newsroom at newsroom@livingstondaily.com.
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: HPS approves $3.7 million in projects, including safer doors at Howell High
