The Mead School District expects to select an architect this month to design projects proposed in its $79.5 million six-year capital plan, which includes modernizing three schools and a number of other infrastructure improvements.

The district plans to seek voter approval of funding for the plan through a bond election Feb. 8, says John Dormaier, its director of facilities and planning.

Dormaier says the district has received letters of interest from 20 architectural firms seeking to design projects proposed in the capital plan, which is for the 2010-2016 period, and it has asked all of them to submit their qualifications by Oct. 15.

The largest projects in the plan are renovations proposed at Shiloh Hills Elementary, at 505 E. Stonewall; Midway Elementary School, at 831 E. Midway Road; and Northwood Middle School, at 13120 N. Pittsburg, Dormaier says.

The Shiloh Hills and Midway projects each are estimated at $14.4 million, and the Northwood project is estimated at $29.5 million, he says.

If district voters approve the bond levy, the Midway and Shiloh Hills projects would be put out to bid in August 2012, and construction would begin that October, Dormaier says. The Northwood project would be bid in August 2013, and would start that October, he says.

All three schools are due for extensive refurbishing, which would include improvements to the heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) systems, and electrical and lighting upgrades, to improve energy efficiency at the schools, Dormaier says. The projects also would include installing new carpeting and roofing, and parking improvements, he says.

"For the most part, rooms and other space will remain at their original locations," he says. "There will be no added space, and the schools will continue to have the same student capacity they have now."

Midway and Shiloh Hills elementary schools, which have 51,000 square feet of floor space each, haven't had any major improvements since they were constructed in 1980, Dormaier says.

Northwood, which has 105,800 square feet of floor space, was built in 1958. Except for the addition of a 5,000-square-foot multipurpose room in 2005, Northwood hasn't had any major improvements since it was remodeled in 1981.

Northwood and Midway are among four schools currently using septic systems that would be connected to the Spokane County sewer system under the capitalization plan, Dormaier says. The other schools that would be connected to the sewer system are Farwell Elementary, and Colbert Elementary.

The facilities plan also includes replacing roofs at Brentwood Elementary, Evergreen Elementary, the Mead Educational Alternative Division High School, and the district's bus shelter.

The Mead School District has 14 school buildings.