Spokane Public Schools has selected Graham Construction & Management Inc., of Spokane, as the general contractor and construction manager for a planned $13.7 million addition to the NewTech Skills Center in Hillyard, where work is scheduled to start next spring.
In that role, Graham Construction will be giving input on the project design, providing construction-management services, and acting as the lead builder, says Brian Holecek, Graham project manager.
 Greg Brown, the school district’s director of capital improvement, says the project’s subcontractors will be selected in March, with construction expected to start soon thereafter.
The two-level, 38,000-square-foot addition is expected to include nine classrooms, an administrative area, and multipurpose rooms, Brown says.
The addition will be attached on the south side of the 70,000-square-foot center at 4141 N. Regal. Jon Swett, director of innovative programs at Spokane Public Schools, says the addition is scheduled to open in the fall of 2015.
The addition’s 21,000-square-foot main floor is designed mainly to house technology, computer programming, and culinary-arts programs, Swett says.
The 17,000-square-foot second level is designed for health-services programs, such as for nursing, dental, and medical training. The upper level is expected to have space for about eight labs.
Brown says the construction cost is expected to be about $7.8 million. He says the state Legislature earlier this year approved in its 2013-2015 budget to fund the total project expenses of $13.7 million, which also includes design, furniture, and equipment.
Bernardo|Wills Architects PS, of Spokane, is designing the addition project.
The addition is the first of two construction phases that Spokane Public Schools is envisioning for the skills center. Brown says a planned second phase is expected to involve remodeling 27,000 square feet of the current facility.
The skills center provides education in technical fields to Spokane-area students ages 16 to 20 who have yet to receive a high school diploma. The center’s programs include media production, Web development, construction technology, criminal justice, veterinary assistance, and automotive.
Swett says the NewTech Skills Center currently serves about 800 students who are from 11 school districts in the Spokane area.
“We believe with the new facility being open, we can serve about 1,200 students total,” Swett says.
He adds that the center’s students attend in split sessions, with half of them at the facility during morning sessions, and the other half attending in the afternoons.