Construction projects remain on budget as work continues at Robert Asp and Probstfield

Construction continues on building additions at Robert Asp Elementary and Probstfield Center for Education, with work remaining on budget. Although neither project was scheduled to be ready for the start of the school year, delays in receiving state authorization for permits and wet weather in June mean the additions will not be complete until even later this fall.

“While we knew the timelines were aggressive, we felt that if everything fell into place we could accomplish the goal of having the additions ready for the 2014-15 school year,” said Brandon Lunak, assistant superintendent for Moorhead Area Public Schools.

As smaller projects with a short timeline for completion, the construction schedules were designed to be aggressive. Plans were submitted to the state in April with authorization to start foundation work taking six weeks to arrive. The final permit approval was July 1.

Unfortunately construction had been slated to begin by late April so almost four weeks were lost at the beginning of the season, Lunak said. That was compounded by 15 days of rain out of 40 work days at the beginning of the construction projects.

At Robert Asp Elementary, the 11,000-square-foot gymnasium and classroom addition has bar joists and roof decking installed on the classroom area. Roofing on the classroom area was installed last week. The roof joists and roof deck on the gymnasium were scheduled to be installed around Aug. 11.  

At Probstfield Center for Education, structural steel, bar joists and decking were being completed for the eight-classroom area to be ready for roofing last week. The classroom area and connection corridor are scheduled to be enclosed by mid August. Masonry work continues on the mechanical space and gymnasium walls. By late August, the entire addition should be enclosed.

The Robert Asp addition and the 20,100-square-foot gymnasium and eight-classroom addition at Probstfield Center are addressing a shortage of physical education space and classroom space and providing for more equitable elementary school facilities.

The district’s third summer project — a new track and artificial turf installed at Moorhead High School — is on target to host football and soccer games in September. The track requires 28 days of cure time before the final surface can be applied to the track and event surfaces. That is scheduled for the end of August or early September.