<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=00bGX0_1H5AbP9500" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=00bGX0_1H5AbP9500" width="1530" height="1151" >Contractors are racing against the clock and Mother Nature to complete much of a major facility improvement project on the Ely school campus.A roughly $5.25 million refurbishing of the district’s athletic facilities is “about 65 percent complete,” engineer Jason Chopp told board members Monday night.“We’ll be approaching 70-to-80 percent before the winter is over,” said Chopp.Work in the school’s gymnasium and ice arena has wrapped up, and the bulk of the activity in recent weeks has focused on both the softball and baseball areas.Both have been leveled and resodded, with the softball field also getting new fencing, a concrete walkway, new scoreboard and other refurbishings.The frame of a new concession and restroom building that will serve both fields has gone up, and contractors have also begun work on a new viewing deck on the first base side of the baseball field.“Weather pending, there’s concrete sidewalk and patio work that if the weather cooperates we’ll get done this year as well,” said Chopp.Work will also continue on the concession/restroom building into the winter, with final completion on some items in the spring.Chopp voiced confidence Monday, when questioned by board member Tony Colarich, that both the baseball and softball fields will be ready for play in the spring.Board members approved a change order Monday adding $78,398 in costs, with 17 items on the order that encompassed both cost increases and some deductions from the original estimate.Included were more than $126,000 in additional costs that arose from the discovery of contaminated soil, as well as about $35,000 in electrical work that resulted from the discovery of buried electrical lines.Chopp said he was hopeful that further significant change orders would be avoided.“We’re up and out of the ground now,” he said. “It seemed like every time we dug a hole we were running into some less-than-ideal material.”Despite the various changes so far, the project remains within budget, with $347,121 still left in the project contingency fund.Thanks to action by the Minnesota Legislature, the school has $5.25 million to spend on the improvements, but set-asides for soft costs including payment to SEH as well as a 10 percent contingency left about $4 million to spend on construction.Before the change orders, the board approves spending $3,912,880 on a package recommended by school administrators and the district’s facilities committee, and approved by the board in May.Max Gray Construction submitted a low bid of $6,547,000 for the project, but school officials later trimmed about $2.6 million worth of work to keep the project within budget.In other business Monday, board members learned that the district will soon have more data to determine the cost savings that have resulted from the conversion to the four-day school week.Jordan Huntbatch, the district’s finance manager, indicated a presentation is forthcoming, perhaps at the board’s January session.The district is expected to save money via reduced hours for some personnel, as well as utility savings, by moving from a five day to a four day school week.School officials are also surveying staff, parents, and students in grades 7-12 about the switch.</div></body>

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Contractors are racing against the clock and Mother Nature to complete much of a major facility improvement project on the Ely school campus. A roughly $5.25 million refurbishing of the district’s athletic facilities is “about 65 percent complete,” engineer Jason Chopp told board members Monday night. “We’ll...

Sports project up against clock

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Contractors are racing against the clock and Mother Nature to complete much of a major facility improvement project on the Ely school campus. A roughly $5.

Sports project up against clock

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