After standing vacant for over a decade, Kellogg Middle School in Southeast Portland was finally demolished in 2018.

Now, a new $60 million Kellogg is rising on the same site, at 3330 S.E. 69th Ave. This week, crews from general contractor Todd Construction and NessCampbell Crane + Rigging placed the first of 27 concrete tilt panels that will form the backbone of the new school’s gymnasium and auditorium.

“PPS is hoping that this becomes a model for our middle schools,” Portland Public Schools spokesman David Mayne said on Wednesday. “These walls here are preformed walls; they were poured over the last few weeks and now (crew members) are attaching cable lifts and raising them up. We started yesterday, and these are the very first walls going up at the new school.”

Designed by Oh planning+design, architecture, the new middle school will have roughly 110,000 square feet spread across three stories. A T-shaped configuration will be used, with the gym and auditorium forming the base of the T and the classroom wing serving as the crossbar. Administrative and other common space will form the stem.

Underground utilities as well as gymnasium and commons footings and foundation slabs have all been completed. This week, the concrete tilt wall forms were removed and the walls were lifted into place for the new auditorium and gymnasium.

“The gymnasium and the stage area is the only section that has the concrete tilt panels,” Todd Construction superintendent Monte Carothers said. “The rest of the school is all structural steel and metal stud framing.

The weather has so far been advantageous for the project team, Carothers noted.

“So far, we’ve had a mild fall … and we’re very fortunate to get that,” he said. “But we know with the extended forecast that things are changing.”

Meanwhile, half of the forms and concrete pours for learning suites building footings are done, while excavation for remaining footings is wrapping up. Final excavation and decommissioning of existing underground drywells and debris piles also has been performed.

Construction is expected to finish by the end of 2020, with the new school scheduled to open in fall 2021, according to Portland Public Schools.

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A hearings officer has OK’d Portland Public Schools‘ bid for conditional use approval to build a replacement Kellogg Middle School at 3330 S.E. 69th Ave. The former school was closed in 2007 and then demolished this past summer.

The Portland Bureau of Development Services had issued its final recommendation of conditional approval last month, after no appeals were received. BDS had stated in part: “The proposal for a new Kellogg Middle School would not significantly lessen the residential appearance and function of the area, as the subject site was already developed with a school for many years.”

A few of the conditions of approval include requirements to: build at least 128 bicycle parking spaces, limit both access and vehicle idling time at the Franklin Street gate, and receive approval from the Portland Bureau of Transportation for an updated Transportation Demand Management Plan.

Some materials from the old building were salvaged for reuse in the new one. The final phase of design for the new school has been completed by Oh planning + design architecture, which now is working on producing construction documents.

Plans call for a 108,478-square-foot school, 35 surface parking spaces, a bus loop, a drop-off and pick-up area and recreation areas. The crossbar of the T-shaped structure will be located parallel with Powell Boulevard and house three stories of primarily classroom space. The stem of the T, meanwhile, will house the gym, performing arts and administration facilities and common spaces in a single story. The main entry will be located where the two wings meet.

Portland Public Schools claims it is preparing to issue a Request for Qualifications and then an Invitation to Bid to secure a general contractor. Construction could begin as early as summer 2019. If so, completion would be scheduled for the end of 2020, with the new school set to open for the start of the 2021 school year.

The project is being paid for with money from a capital bond measure approved by voters in 2017.

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Portland Public Schools next week will host an open house for contractors interested in bidding on the project to build a new Kellogg Middle School in Southeast Portland.

The event is scheduled for 4 to 6 p.m. on Dec. 6, in the Franklin High School auditorium at the corner of Southeast 52nd Avenue and Woodward Street. Attendees will be able to learn more about the project and talk with team members.

The new school will include over 100,000 square feet of space, including a performing arts auditorium, a multipurpose gymnasium, a large common area, and outdoor learning and classroom areas. In addition, a new STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) lab next to the student learning garden will be used for maker space activities and project-based learning. The project’s architect is Oh Planning + Design, Architecture.

Demolition of the old school wrapped up this past summer. Some elements of the old building were salvaged for reuse in the new one.

A two-step procurement process will begin in early 2019: issuance of a request for qualifications (RFQ) in January, and then an invitation to bid in March 2019.

New construction is set to begin in the middle of 2019, with completion tentatively scheduled for the end of 2020. The new building will be outfitted with furnishings, fixtures and equipment in early 2021 to allow school administrators to train new teachers and staff ahead of the 2021-22 school year.

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