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Contractors have until Dec. 11 to submit proposals for two of the biggest projects that are part of Portland Public Schools‘ eight-year improvement effort via a $482 million bond.

The modernizations of Roosevelt and Franklin high schools are slated to begin in spring 2015, and a lot of planning and coordination needs to take place to ensure they are completed by fall 2017, said Jim Owens, executive director of the Office of School Modernization for Portland Public Schools. Another modernization project that was part of the bond – rehabilitation of Grant High School – will start in 2017 and finish by fall 2019, Owens said.

The three high school modernizations are expected to cost $257 million total, he said.

“It is a massive undertaking that will completely rehabilitate the buildings,” Owens said. “It is an historic rehabilitation that will retain the historic character of the schools and will bring the buildings up to code with new roofs and a more modern learning environment.”

The construction work is a boon for the local construction industry, said Mike Salsgiver, executive director of Associated General Contractors’ Oregon-Columbia chapter.

“Any time you inject a half-billion dollars into the economy, it’s a good thing,” he said. “It couldn’t come at a better time, just as public work was starting to sag.”

PPS has already completed incremental improvements – including seismic upgrades, ADA accessibility, roof replacements and science laboratory construction – for six of 63 schools. That $75 million effort started this past summer and will continue for the next six to seven years, Owens said.

A K-8 school, Faubion School on Northeast Rosa Parks Way, will be rebuilt as part of the bond effort, Owens added. That project, which is part of a partnership with Concordia University, has a 15-month construction window. The school is expected to open in fall 2017.

PPS will seek a construction manager-general contractor for both the Roosevelt and Franklin projects, Owens said, to bring the general contractor on board early to work with the design team. The PPS Board of Education will award the contracts on Jan. 9, 2014.

Bassetti Architects is working on the initial design and master plan documents for Roosevelt High School. DOWA-IBI Group Inc. will design the project for Franklin High School. Both firms presented master plan designs to Portland Public Schools’ board of directors on Monday night. Final approval of those plans could be made as early as Dec. 16, Owens said.

Each firm will work with the builder through fall 2014, with construction starting at both high schools in spring 2015, he said.

“This work has to be planned and executed so it doesn’t interrupt the school year,” he said. “Work has to be done in the summer. It all has to be done quickly, on budget and visible to the community.”

Representatives from about 15 general contractors in November attended each of the two pre-application meetings with the school district to discuss expectations for the request for proposals. While firms will be able to obtain only one of the school rehabilitation project contracts, many were represented at both meetings.

“We are interested and we are going to go after them right now,” said Tim Carpenter, superintendent for Lease Crutcher Lewis, which attended both meetings. “These are exciting projects and certainly great for the school district and especially the kids to see those schools get fixed up.”

Skanska USA Building Inc. also is pursuing a contract, said Nathan Gibson, its vice president of business development. The company has performed numerous construction projects at K-12 schools throughout the state, he said.

“We look to support any of the school districts as much as possible,” Gibson said. “Not only do we want to deliver the buildings themselves but also optimize local participation.”

The school bond will create significant work for the local construction industry, including minority-owned, women-owned and emerging small businesses, Gibson said.

“If you have big projects like these, they will deliver opportunities for diverse businesses to grow,” he said.