Walker Construction Inc., of Spokane, has started work on two jobs for the Othello School District that have a combined value of $2.7 million. Othello is located about 120 miles southwest of Spokane, between Moses Lake and the Tri-Cities.

The two contracts that Walker Construction garnered there include a $1.7 million project to build a classroom structure for the high school there and a $1 million project to convert a former church structure into an alternative school, to be located about four blocks from the high school.

At the high school, the new stand-alone classroom structure on the west side of the school's campus will add six classrooms and 10,500 square feet to the 115,000-square-foot high school, says Othello School District Assistant Superintendent Gina Bullis. Work on that project started in September and is expected to be completed by the end of February or early March.

Justin Paine, a Walker Construction project manager, says the separate alternative school project will involve converting a former church into a school facility to include five classrooms, offices, and other education spaces. That project started in early November and is scheduled to be completed by March 1.

Architects West Inc., of Coeur d'Alene, did the design work for both projects.

The high school is located at 340 S. Seventh in the central part of Othello, and serves 1,000 students in grades nine to 12. When finished, the new structure there will include four science classrooms with lab space, and two general-education classrooms.

The overall cost to build, furnish, and equip the classroom structure is expected to total $2.3 million, Bullis says. Project funding is coming from a $1.7 million state match approved in July by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, and about $600,000 from the district's capital improvement fund.