Rock Falls High School OKs bids on ventilation, air purification projects

ROCK FALLS – The Rock Falls High School board of education on Wednesday approved bids on two improvement projects planned for the summer.

Helm Group of Freeport successfully bid on the general contracting for both projects during the December bid schedule.

The first was the ventilation renovation of the school’s CTE welding lab. Helm bid $390,850.

The other was the installation of 62 air purification units in classrooms throughout the school. Helm bid $216,450.

The new purification system has advantages over the existing high efficiency particulate air filters, also known as HEPA. The air filters have been in place since school resumed during the COVID-19 pandemic, Superintendent Ron McCord said.

The primary one will be cost: the new units do not have replacement filters that have to be purchased and swapped out.

“In place of just a small HEPA filter for air purification, we will have units of medical grade in all the classrooms to help minimize contaminants, whether they be bacterial, fungi or virus,” McCord said.

He also said the new units “basically bolt to the wall and plug in” and will be better suited to scrubbing the air in large open areas than the existing HEPA floor filters. He said he believed the new units came with a seven-year warranty.

Facilities director Bryan Berogan said the first planning meeting with the contractors will be Feb. 2. He expects work in the welding shop to begin in earnest in late May, though some groundwork can begin immediately. The air purification project must wait until after school is dismissed for the summer.

Supply chain woes contributed to delays in the heat and air conditioning installation projects last year, and Berogan is anticipating the same. “Getting the equipment here will be a challenge,” he said.