Structural steel erection for a new gymnasium at Tigard High School is wrapping up as crews approach the end of a two-year, $66 million expansion and renovation project.

The school, constructed during the postwar building boom, has received some 18 remodels over the years. General contractor Pence Construction is carrying out the latest improvements, thanks to money from a $291.3 million bond approved by voters in 2016.

“This high school was built in the 1950s; that was its first iteration,” said Eric Nesse, Tigard-Tualatin School District‘s bond support administrator. “It’s really been a Frankenstein job with many additions. Our architect has a little historic card with all the different colors from all the different remodels.”

The project, designed by Bassetti Architects, is taking place in two phases; renovations and new construction are covering a total of approximately 153,000 square feet. In the first phase, workers expanded an existing classroom wing for business and career and technical education, built a new wing with administrative space and a large common area highlighted by a learning stair, installed new turf for athletic fields, and constructed new tennis courts.

In the second phase, now under way, crews are building a new auxiliary gym that will connect with the new common area and an expanded cafeteria.

“There will also be the courtyard,” Nesse said. “And there’s a little breezeway that will be locked with a fence across it to the old building that will create a secure area. Looking into the auxiliary gym area, this is actually sort of a pit. There’s a walkway all the way around the gym that’s kind of sunken like a pit, with the basketball court down below at a lower level.”

All of that is now evident as completion of construction is now in sight.

“We’re in phase two, but there are still some odds and ends to take care of from phase one,” Pence Construction project superintendent Kurt Schwabauer said. “They’ve been using (the new wing) all year and everyone seems to be pretty happy.”

While DSL Builders of Salem is finishing structural steel work for the gym, Fred Shearer & Sons of Beaverton is building walls as well as connecting new structures with existing ones.

“The ironworkers are out there, and now the framers are here from Fred Shearer and they do the interior and exterior framing,” Schwabauer said. “They’ve got a pretty big package; they’re doing the interior and exterior framing (and) they’re doing the drywall and the insulation and the weather barrier.”

Fred Shearer & Sons also is performing finish carpentry and installing custom wooden ceilings throughout much of the new space. Other major subcontractors on the job include Prairie Electric and Oregon Cascade Plumbing & Heating.

“Oregon Cascade has our plumbing and heating package,” Schwabauer said. “Their labor force does the wet side of things, and then they’ve hired Salem Heating to do the dry side.”

For now, crews are scrambling to get roofing into place and the new gym dried in as spring approaches. This summer will mark two years of work on the project.

“With final phase 2 delivery, building turnover (will be) in early August and the parking lot will be done at the end of the summer,” Schwabauer said.

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When voters in 2016 approved a $291 million bond for construction in the Tigard-Tualatin School District, one of the clear beneficiaries was Tigard High School. Its existing campus opened in 1953 and was renovated about 15 years ago. But the bond provided $66 million for an expansion and remodel.

Crews are now about halfway through the two-year project, with Pence Construction serving as general contractor. Tradespeople are spread among a campus closed for summer vacation.

“At this moment we have everything from final touch-ups and punch list to brand new demolition starting that process and pretty much everything in between,” Pence Construction project manager Carl Schrank said.

Bassetti Architects designed the renovation and expansion with two main objectives: make the school easier to navigate and update the oldest classrooms. To that end, roughly 160,000 square feet of new space will be created over two phases. Some 100,000 square feet of old space has been demolished or will be in order to make room for the new space. Site utilities also will be installed.

On the west side or the campus, most outdoor classrooms are being demolished or moved elsewhere – except for the auto shop, which will essentially have walls built around it and become a part of the new building. Also on the main floor of this new building will be a ceramics room as well as space for information technology and engineering classes. On the second floor, the visual arts department, computer science class and wrestling room will gain new homes.

The most visible changes will be on the north side of campus fronting Durham Road. There, a new classroom wing is taking shape and is scheduled for completion by this fall. This wing also will house a secure new main entrance featuring a vestibule as well as administrative office space. A host of new classrooms will be on the second floor.

“We’ve got classroom space, continuing education, CE2 (Community Experience for Career Education) space and we’re building a new makers lab,” Schrank said. “We’re doing work in the auto shop, we’re putting in a new kitchen and serving area in, a large new commons area with a learning stair and a great big open space for gathering and learning.”

The new school wings have structural steel with slab-on-deck and slab-on-grade concrete. Metal stud framing makes up the interior. Unlike many school projects currently under construction, there are no tilt-up or elevated concrete wall panels involved. A membrane roof rounds things out along with a mix of materials on the exterior that includes metal panels, masonry and fiber cement panels.

“Everything is really on track,” Schrank said. “Everybody is working well. We’ve got a great group of subs, and we have been fortunate in that while we are working in and around the school and the students, we have no active remodels going in the school area.”

Crews are expected to achieve substantial completion of the second phase of construction, including a new auxiliary gymnasium, by August 2020.

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