The Duluth School Board will see a revamped set of designs tonight for the new Grant/Nettleton Elementary School.
Plans approved in February have been changed in two major ways: A third addition has been scrapped in favor of remodeling a current space; and the bus drop-off area has been moved to give it more space.
The addition would have caused problems with the sewer line, and the district had to reduce square footage to stay within budget, said Eric Kaiser, a consultant with Johnson Controls, the firm that manages the Red Plan, and former district principal.
Each project within the Red Plan has money set aside for new work and for remodel work, and it was decided to use money for remodeling to help balance the budget, he said.
Moving the bus-loading zone gave the school more flexibility because the green space might be used for things such as a nature trail or vegetable garden. It's also a safer area because the zone is farther away from the building, Kaiser said.
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The design team for the building, made up of staff from Nettleton and Grant schools, parents, neighbors, some school board members and administration, has overseen 18 versions of the school design.
"We've done a lot more iterations with this group than with other groups," Kaiser said.
If the board approves the designs July 20, more work will be done to finalize the plans before moving on to the more developed phase. The district hopes to bid out the project in February, with construction and remodeling to begin in the spring. The project is estimated to cost $16 million and be finished for the 2012-13 school year.
