Ascension Parish (La.) district cuts size of planned high school after bids exceed the budget

After receiving bids that far exceeded the proposed budget, the Ascension Parish (La.) school district has decided to seek new bids for construction of a new high school.

The new campus, which has been named Prairieville High, will be bid as two separate, pared-down construction projects. Initial bids came in at close to $100 million., far surpassing the $79.5 million for budgeted construction, reports The Advocate. 

The district expects to put out the two bids in the coming months, one for the academic portion of the campus and the other for site work, like parking, drainage and athletics. The new plans for the school are of a smaller scale than the original plans, but there is an option to restore elements if construction costs fall to pre-pandemic levels.

The academic portion of the project will be rebid without including a 14-classroom east wing that was in the original plans. The capacity of the new school will was projected to be 1,900 to 2,100 students; that number is now 1,670 to 1,900 students.

Under the new bid plan, there will be 86 teaching stations, including classrooms, science labs, P.E. classes and breakout rooms. A Freshman Academy building is still planned. 

The district expects to save over $1 million by moving the air-conditioning system's chiller plant closer to the building. 

Other trims include reducing locker room space, reducing the size of a stadium press box, and dropping stadium capacity from 5,000 to between 3,500 and 3,700.

The district hopes the new high school is ready to open for the 2023-24 school year; the construction of the school will still be a two-year process.

The new high school coming to will be the fourth on the east bank of the parish and is designed to relieve crowding at the other high schools--Dutchtown, East Ascension and St. Amant. Student enrollment at each school is nearing or past 2,000.