P-L-T school project to be done soon

PROPHETSTOWN – Good weather, the local workforce and sandy soil all will play roles in an early finish of the new Tampico Elementary School, the builder says.

The Prophetstown-Lyndon-Tampico school district project started in October at the site of the current Tampico Middle School; by December, workers already were 8 weeks ahead of schedule because of the unusually warm winter.

It should be done by Aug. 1, said Phil Thiele, project manager for Chicago-based Gilbane Building Co. That will be nearly 3 weeks before the Aug. 20 start of school.

The weather played a role in helping the construction project along, he said, adding that workers already have placed tile in the hallways and the restrooms.

“The local workforce was also a big factor,” Thiele said. “I never had to call anyone about where they were at. They would show up, without me asking or complaining. Everyone worked well together.”

The sandy soil also helped.

“The rain didn’t stop us like other project sites. Because of the sandy soil, we were back on the project a couple of hours later, rather than 4 or 5 days,” he said.

The company also is 6 weeks ahead at Prophetstown High School, where the district is adding 17 classrooms, among other improvements, Thiele said.

The district said the high school will be open by the fall 2013 semester. However, Thiele said, the new classrooms would be ready by April, near the end of the spring 2013 semester.

All of the changes coming as a result of the construction will take place in fall 2013, P-L-T Superintendent David Rogers said.

The current Tampico Elementary School, built more than 70 years ago, will be closed. The elementary students will be moved to the site of the current Tampico Middle School, which will have preschool through fourth grade, with districtwide fifth grade. The building will be renamed Tampico Elementary.

The middle school students will be moved to Prophetstown High School, which will be converted to a regional school for sixth through 12th grades.

The school board has yet to determine what to do with the old elementary school, Rogers said.

Options include continuing to use the building, letting some other public entity use it or auctioning it off, he said.