Bond Project Manager Sid Grant provided updates to the school board at the Nov. 18 meeting, including details on the Coppell High School fine arts building and tennis center projects. In April, the board approved a maximum price of $18.6 million for the fine arts building and $5.5 million for the tennis center.
The board approved Core Construction as the contractor for 2023 bond projects with work outlined through 2027 including renovations at Pinkerton Elementary, a school slated for closure in the 2025-26 school year.
The details
Fine Arts Building piers, grade beams and initial plumbing pipework are complete with crews set to pour concrete in December, Grant said. At that point crews will begin installing vertical steel beams for the framework.
The 46,593-square-foot fine arts building will feature dressing rooms for band, choir, color guard, dancing and cheerleading as well as a dance and cheer gymnasium that will double as a storm shelter. The design also incorporates dedicated choir rooms, a band hall, ensemble storage, locker rooms and restrooms, according to previous Community Impact reporting.
Once students move into the new building, the district will begin creating a career and technical education center in the vacated space at the high school. The project is estimated to complete in mid-Oct. 2025, Grant said.
Zooming in
Renovations of the tennis center’s ticket booth at the entrance, storage and locker rooms and interior refreshes are complete and permitting is in place for the new building construction. The design expands the center by 4,000 square feet, bringing the total blueprint to 7,000 square feet, and it includes space for instructional classrooms, offices and concessions, he said. The district is also resurfacing the existing courts and adding new light fixtures.
Crews have begun laying the foundation and the project is expected to complete in Aug. 2025, Grant said. Part of the project included replacing the court lighting with a new smart LED system; however, staff inadvertently left the item out of the architectural plans in the initial bidding process and it will require a change order at a December or January board meeting.
“Core had to create the plans and put it out to bid and now we have that and are ready to move forward,” Grant said. “We’re not paying anymore than we would have paid had it been in the plans originally; it's just something that wasn’t there to begin with that should have been.”
Also of note
When conversations of school closures sparked this summer, the board approved a postponement of elementary bond projects at Pinkerton Elementary, Lakeside Elementary and Town Center Elementary, Grant said. Now that discussions are complete, district staff will resume these projects aside from Pinkerton Elementary. The board approved the measure Nov. 18.
With the school closure and consolidation of school programs into Denton Creek Elementary, the campus is set to receive additional staff and students in fall 2025. This prompted staff to begin renovations planned for the school in summer 2025 rather than 2026, Grant said. The hope is that the decision will prevent staff moving to the campus from consolidations from moving again due to construction projects.
The revised construction schedule for elementary bond projects is as follows:
- Valley Ranch renovations and additions in progress
- Town Center refresh begins 2025
- Denton Creek refresh begins 2025
- Cottonwood refresh begins 2026
- Lakeside renovations and additions begin 2026
- Austin renovations and additions begin 2027
