The Rockwood School District Facilities Department has been hard at work this summer, completing just under $3 million worth of projects around the district.

These improvements were funded through the bond issue passed by Rockwood voters in 2017.

“Our Facilities team did a great job getting our summer projects completed and ready for the start of school,” said Rockwood Chief Financial Officer Paul Northington. 

Here is a look at some of the district’s main summer construction projects.

High School Track Resurfacing

The tracks at all four of our district high schools were recoated and restriped. The drain systems on the inside of the tracks bordering the fields were also modified.

Babler Elementary Parking Lot Renovation

The front parking lot, hard surface play area, sidewalks and curb at Babler were all repaved this summer. This follows major construction on the rear parking lot at Babler in summer 2021. Safety bollards were also added along the front sidewalk and along the rear pick-up/drop-off sidewalk.

Lafayette High Tennis Court Replacement

The tennis courts and facility at Lafayette received an upgrade, following tennis court projects at the other three Rockwood high schools over the previous two summers.

Other summer projects funded by the 2017 bond issue include:

• Refinishing the main gym floor at Eureka High and replacing the bleacher systems in the B gyms at Marquette and Rockwood Summit high schools.

• Installation of a concrete connecting sidewalk for the drop-off/pick-up area at Ellisville Elementary.

• Installation of new carpet at Kellison Elementary.

• Replacing the concrete slab at the curb line of the main entrance and the concrete walk section in the rear of the commons entrance at Ridge Meadows Elementary.

Rockwood is fortunate to benefit from efficient, effective management of its construction projects thanks to our Facilities team.

While most districts of Rockwood’s size contract with an outside program manager for major construction projects, Rockwood Facilities manages its projects in house. This saves a minimum of around 6 percent of the cost of each project, according to Director of Facilities Chris Freund.

Rockwood also keeps change orders to a minimum. While the industry standard is to figure in a cost of about 10 percent of each project for change orders, Freund said Rockwood operates at a change order rate of less than 2 percent. Change orders reflect work that is added or removed from the original contracted scope of a project.