Site work is nearing completion for a new $29 million Northwood Middle School in the Mead School District, and construction of the school building is expected to start soon, says Ned Wendle, the district’s director of facilities and planning.

By the end of October, the school will have a field for both football and soccer, separate fields for baseball and softball, and another practice field for use for both baseball and softball purposes, Wendle says.

“It’s 21 acres, which is the previous amount of space, but what we’ve done is put the bus loop in the middle of the site to alleviate congestion for parents,” he says.

In February 2015, Mead voters approved a $69.5 million bond that, when coupled with a state match, will fund $101.6 million in work.

The new middle school will be built south of the current 56-year-old facility at 13120 N. Pittsburg. Spokane-based Garco Construction Inc. and ALSC Architects PS are the general contractor and project architect, respectively.

A roughly 16,000-square-foot portion of the current school building will be upgraded and will become part of the new school. The main gym, auxiliary gym, and choir and band rooms will remain with the new construction. The new building is expected to include about 118,000 square feet of space, Wendle says.

Once the new structure is completed, classroom space in the current Northwood building could host students from Midway and Shiloh Hills elementary schools temporarily, as those schools also will undergo modernization projects. Both buildings are 34-years-old.

Both schools will receive technology upgrades and added classroom space to accommodate growing enrollments. The cost for both projects is estimated to cost $17 million, Wendle says.

 “We’re a year ahead of pace with Midway; schematic designs have just started and work will begin in the spring of ’17,” says Wendle, who adds that designs for modernizing Shiloh Hills will begin in the spring of 2018. MMEC Architecture & Interiors, of Spokane, is the project architect for the Midway modernization.

Wendle says space at the current Northwood site also might be used to store materials stashed at Mead School District offices, at 2323 E. Farwell.

A flurry of other smaller-scale projects are occurring at other Mead schools, including creating single points of entry for the public at Farwell Elementary and Mountainside Middle School. Single entry points, for the purpose of improving security, were completed recently at Brentwood Middle School and Evergreen Elementary School, Wendle says.