Major renovations poised to begin at fourth Syracuse school

Bids are due Tuesday for the renovation of the fourth and final Syracuse school that is part of a long-delayed, $138 million City Hall-school district project.

Work is scheduled to begin in April at H.W. Smith School, said Thomas Ferrara, district director of facilities and operations. The projected $28 million project, which includes extensive interior work and a five-classroom addition, is scheduled to be done by October 2013, possibly September 2013.

Reconstruction is well underway at the other three schools: Fowler High, Dr. Weeks Elementary and the Institute of Technology at Syracuse Central. Additions are rising at Fowler and the institute. All the schools are undergoing major interior work.

Those projects so far are on time and on budget, Ferrara said.

By the end of next year, I think well have four schools completely renovated, said Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner, who chairs the joint city-district board in charge of the project.

The schools completion will mark the districts first major school renovations since McKinley-Brighton and Dr. King elementary schools were remade and reopened in 2001 and 2002.

The path to the current renovations winds back to August 2003, when city hall and the school district announced the project.

The original plan was for the joint board to oversee the renovation of every school in district in phases over 10 years. The first phase would cover seven schools. Officials originally expected construction to begin as soon as 2005.

For a range of reasons, the project dragged on and dwindled in scope from seven to four schools. The first major work began in June 2011 at Fowler.

The district and city, at that time lead by Mayor Matt Driscoll and Superintendent Stephen C. Jones, created the joint board as a mechanism to borrow money without increasing the citys debt load and to fast-track badly needed renovations. Traditionally, the city itself borrows the money for school renovations. Either way, the state covers most of the project costs.

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Major renovations poised to begin at fourth Syracuse school