Mount Si High School reconstruction work begins Monday; main parking lot to be demolished in November

Work will begin Monday on the delayed start of the Mount Si High School construction project. The city of Snoqualmie issued the building permit for the $195 million project this week, to formally authorize the three-year project.

By Carol Ladwig • September 16, 2016 7:14 pm
Mount Si High School staff illustrated some of the changes in traffic flow around the school that will occur as construction of the new high school building begins this month
Mount Si High School staff illustrated some of the changes in traffic flow around the school that will occur as construction of the new high school building begins this month

Work will begin Monday on the delayed start of the Mount Si High School construction project. The city of Snoqualmie issued the building permit for the $195 million project this week, to formally authorize the three-year project.

Assistant Superintendent Ryan Stokes reported to the Snoqualmie Valley School Board Thursday, Sept. 15 that Fury Site Works would start work next week on the clearing and grading work to create temporary parking lots on the south end of the high school site, where several houses were acquired and demolished earlier this year, and on the baseball diamonds on the north end of the site. In November, they are scheduled to demolish the school’s main parking lot, to prepare the ground for the new building on the site.

In December, Stokes said, contractor Hayward Baker will insert more than 4,800 columns of crushed stone, 50 feet deep into the building site. The three-foot diameter columns will support the entire new building, not just the new gym to be built, Stokes said.

Next spring, he continued, the district can advertise for bids on the construction project, possibly in February, and he hoped construction could begin by April.

As a result of the construction work, Stokes noted that no parking will be allowed on Meadowbrook Way in front of the high school building. He added that with the temporary lots to be built, the number of parking spaces will actually be greater than the school currently has.

Once the temporary parking lots are completed and the main parking lot is excavated, the main entrance to the high school will also be closed. The entrance at the back of the building will remain open for use and buses will drop off and pick up students along Schusman Avenue.

Flaggers will direct traffic on Meadowbrook at the intersection with Railroad Ave. (S.R. 203), at the intersection with S.E. Park Street, and in front of the high school building.

The delay in permitting the project was a result of public notice timelines, an additional permitting process that was required, and staff’s attempts to meet an “aggressive schedule” for the project, Stokes said. However, he told the board “the key critical path of the project has not been affected by the timing of our permit.”

As a result of the construction, the baseball fields will not be available for spring sports. Stokes told the board the district has contracted with a private organization to rent a multi-purpose field that will be built this year off Boalch Avenue near Encompass in North Bend.