MOBILE, Alabama – The Mobile County school board has taken a major step toward replacing Citronelle High School, approving a $22 million construction bid that clears the way for groundbreaking on the long-planned new campus next month.
Board members selected White-Spunner Construction as general contractor after bids were opened on Dec. 16, with White-Spunner submitting the lowest of three proposals received. The construction bid represents the bulk of the project’s overall $25 million budget, which also covers site work, equipment and other associated costs.
Schools Superintendent Martha Peek called the vote a milestone for the district following the board’s Monday meeting, saying it was exciting to finally have a contractor in place and to see the project moving toward construction after years in the planning stages.
The new high school will rise on a 13-acre site directly across the street from the current Citronelle High School building, bordered by Lebaron Avenue, Highway 45 and Centre Street. Keeping the new campus near the existing one is intended to minimize disruption for students and staff during the construction period, since classes will continue at the current building until the new facility is ready.
Under the current timetable, construction is expected to wrap up by July 2016, positioning the new school to open in time for a future fall semester. The project falls under the oversight of Hoar Program Management, the firm the school system selected to manage roughly $100 million in capital construction projects across Mobile County schools over a multiyear period.
The Citronelle project was not the only major construction item the board approved during Monday’s meeting. Board members also signed off on a $1.5 million bid from Rod Cooke Construction Inc. to build a new science and technology wing at Burns Middle School in west Mobile, along with a $5.6 million bid from Don Gordon Construction to fund renovations at Tanner Williams Elementary School.
Together, the approvals reflect a broader wave of capital investment underway across Mobile County Public Schools, as the district works through a multiyear list of new construction and renovation projects aimed at replacing aging facilities and expanding capacity at schools throughout the county, from the northern Citronelle community to west Mobile campuses.
District officials have not yet announced specific groundbreaking ceremony details for the new Citronelle High School, though construction activity is expected to begin at the site in the coming weeks.