Levernier Construction Inc., of Spokane, has landed a $12.8 million project to modernize and expand Freeman High School, in Rockford, Wash.

Sergio Hernandez, Freeman School District's superintendent, says Levernier submitted the lowest of seven bids for the project, which will include modernizing the district's 52,000-square-foot high school building and adding 18,000 square feet of space to the building.

With the bid, the school project currently is $97,000 under budget, Hernandez says.

The district's 325 high school students will be taught in portable classrooms while the school is undergoing the work, which is expected to begin soon and to continue through the 2009-2010 school year, he says.

The district's high school, elementary school, and middle school all are clustered on one campus near its administrative offices, at 15001 S. Jackson Road, in Rockford, about 15 miles southeast of Spokane.

ALSC Architects PS, of Spokane, is designing the project, and the Spokane office of Construction Services Group is providing construction management through Educational Service District 101.

The additional space at the high school will include a second gymnasium that will have bleacher seating for 1,100 people, new science labs, and a vocational-technical education area. The current practice gym will be converted to a shop area, Hernandez says.

The district hopes to have access to part of the high school building by next winter, and plans to occupy the upgraded building fully for the 2010-2011 school year. Once the project is complete, the district's elementary school students will use the portable classrooms while the elementary school is revamped. Overall, the district expects to spend about $30 million on the two school projects and related traffic and pedestrian safety upgrades being planned for the campus.