COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – After getting an update last month from architect Shawn Parshall of Tower Pinkster, the Branch Intermediate School District Board of Education is scheduled to take action during an electronic meeting this Wednesday on a future renovation project at the Branch Area Careers Center.
The board will be asked to approve proceeding with the project. They will also be asked to approve the architect’s proposal and to seek bids for a construction manager.
Career and Technical Education Director Randy Sowles told the board last month he met with the staff to determine what was absolutely needed in order to bring the cost of the project down.
Parshall said the cost of the project has been brought down from $10.4 million to $6.8 million.
After much discussion, it was agreed the work would be done in three phases and that an addition in phase three would be an alternate.
Parshall said Tower Pinkster would need start designing in early May and get it out for bidding to vendors in November 2020.
Phase one would involve renovation of the mezzanine. The culinary arts kitchen and lab, including the Branch House would be renovated during the second phase, while expansion work would take place in the third phase.
