PENDER COUNTY — In a unanimous vote during the Pender Schools Board of Education special meeting on June 3, the approval for the contractor to renovate Topsail Middle School was chosen.
Bordeaux Construction and Moseley will be the design-build team. The team is also working with the board currently on the construction of the new J.H. Lea Elementary and Middle School campus in Hampstead.
Board member Beth Burns made the motion to award the project to Bordeaux Construction and Moseley, citing their already established working relationship, with board member Tom Reeves seconding it.
READ MORE: 3 firms pitch Topsail Middle School overhaul, vote postponed
Also up for consideration were TA Loving and LS3P and Monteith and BMH.
All three teams presented to the school board at its May 26 meeting. Bordeaux Construction and Moseley cited repurposing and refreshing Topsail Middle School, such as improving science classrooms, having roller doors, new lighting, pull-down wheels on the ceiling for electrical cords, and removing the ceilings in career and technical education classrooms, a media center, and a dining commons.
The Topsail Middle School design project is part of the district’s 2022 school bond referendum; it’s slated to cover $22 million, though the final price tag is currently unknown. Bids from the teams did not include pricing for the design-build.
Topsail Middle shares a campus with the elementary and high schools in Hampstead. Transforming the 111,000-square-foot middle school could help free up space for high-school students, as around 830 middle-schoolers will move to the new J.H. Lea K-8 campus starting in the 2027-2028 school year.
The next step is the planning process for construction. County schools staff said it’s unlikely students will be in the building during its phased approach.
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