Spokane Public Schools has selected Graham Construction & Management Inc., of Spokane, to be the contractor for its Finch Elementary School renovation and addition project, says Greg Brown, the district's director of capital improvements. Graham submitted a bid of $14.3 million.

The district also has extended the construction schedule by a few months, which in turn will extend the time students will be relocated during the construction until the middle of the 2014-2015 school year—about half of a school year longer than originally planned, he says.

Graham's bid edged out the next lowest bid by $2,000, Brown says. The project has a total budget of $26.9 million, which includes land acquisition, sales tax, permit costs, architectural fees, equipment, and furniture in addition to construction costs.

Finch Elementary is located at 3717 N. Milton, just north of Audubon Park and a block southwest of the Garland Avenue-Driscoll Boulevard intersection. The original school was built in 1924. Following three expansions between 1926 and 1946, the structure has 48,100 square feet of permanent floor space. The school also has 12,700 square feet of portable classroom space that has been added to the campus since 1956.

The main building will be preserved and remodeled, and an aesthetically compatible new east wing addition will connect to the existing north and south wings, so the completed structure will surround a courtyard.

The addition will include at least 13 classrooms and bring the permanent space up to about 60,000 square feet.

Madsen Mitchell Evenson & Conrad PLLC, of Spokane, designed the project.

The project originally was scheduled to be completed by the start of the 2014-2015 school year, but contracting consultants recently advised the school district that that schedule likely was too tight for most contractors to be able to perform the work proposed for the project, Brown says.

"There's a lot of structural detailing and reinforcement to do to bring it up to code," he says.

During construction, Finch students in kindergarten through fourth grade will attend school in the old Westview Elementary school building, at 6104 N. Moore, Brown says. Finch's fifth and sixth graders will attend Woodridge Elementary, at 5100 W. Shawnee, during construction.

"Students are going to stay (at the other facilities) through Christmas break in 2014," he says.

Groundbreaking for the project is scheduled for June 5.

Six contractors submitted bids for the job. Las Vegas-based Burke Construction Group Inc., which has a Spokane office, submitted the second lowest bid. Leone & Keeble Inc., of Spokane, submitted the third lowest bed of $14.4 million.

Other bidders were Garco Construction Inc., of Spokane; Blew's Construction Inc., of Spokane Valley; and Alaska-based Neeser Construction Inc.

The project is the fourth major construction project to be funded through the $288 million bond measure approved by voters in 2009.

Two of the three earlier projects are under construction. One is the $59 million Ferris High School modernization project, and the other is the $18 million Jefferson Elementary replacement project. The $16.4 million new Westview school was the first major project to be completed with 2009 bond funds.