Bond Project Update: October 2022

Thank you, voters!

Construction is underway on the Graham-Kapowsin High School expansion project. The 33,000-square-foot expansion is adding a new classroom wing, an auxiliary gym and weight room, along with a larger commons area and administrative spaces. The new wing will allow students and faculty members to move from portables back into the main building.

Director of Construction Sara Coccia said her team has worked hard to ensure that the majority of our bond projects are done with local workers. She said 71% of all the subcontractors working on the GKHS project are from Pierce County.

Once construction is done, GKHS will also be home to a new School-Based Health Clinic, the construction of which is being funded through congressional award that Congresswoman Kim Schrier spearheaded. It will offer students and staff from GKHS, Frontier Middle, and Nelson Elementary a free clinic for an assortment of medical needs.

The GKHS projects are scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2023.

New Naches Trail Elementary

Construction on the new Naches Trail Elementary is also making great strides towards its fall 2023 completion.

Naches Trail Elementary was originally slated to get a complete remodel and expansion. But a cost analysis determined it would actually be more expensive to modernize the current school than it would be to build a new school.

The new 77,000-square foot school will house 41 general classrooms and is scheduled to be ready for students late next year.

Evergreen Elementary Expansion

Once the New Naches Trail Elementary School is completed and staff and students move into the new building, the old Naches Trail Elementary will be home for the Evergreen Elementary staff and students while the renovation and expansion of their school takes place.

This project will modernize the current Evergreen Elementary building, which was originally built in 1979, and will add 15,000 square feet to the school.

The project is scheduled to be completed in 2025.

New Bethel High School

The path from empty field to thriving school can be long and fraught with setbacks.

No project better exemplifies that journey than the New Bethel High School. After purchasing 54 acres of land from Rainier View Christian Church back in 2009, the New Bethel High School went through more than a decade of rezoning, boundary line adjustments, Growth Management Act delays, and failed construction bond attempts before planning could begin.

Then, just as plans were being made to construct the school, updates to a Pierce County Stormwater Manual delayed the project once again. The changes to the Stormwater Manual included new, more stringent threshold methodologies to determine if the site’s stormwater would impact a “Category One Wetland,” which is located in the southeast corner of the new Bethel High School site.

With all that behind us, more than 13 years after purchasing the land, we are now excited to begin construction on the New Bethel High School project late next year or in early 2024. The construction timeline is 27 months, with an anticipated opening in the fall of 2026.

In October, the School Board approved the submission of an application packet to the Capital Projects Advisory Review Board to use the General Contractor/Construction Manager procurement process for the new school. This is because the New Bethel High School will be a complex project. Bringing a General Contractor on the team during design allows the district to work through construction phasing, meet the project’s schedule, budget, and the district’s quality criteria. Engaging a General Contractor early will help to determine the most cost-effective options to meet district requirements.

If the Capital Projects Advisory Review Board approves the District’s application, they will proceed with a two-step process to select the General Contractor. District administration will bring a General Contractor selection recommendation to the School Board for final approval.

Want to hear more about the New Bethel High School project? Be sure to check out Episode 7 of our podcast!

Elementary #19

Bethel’s 19th elementary school will be a two-story, 64,000-square-foot school located in the Lipoma Firs community. It will house nearly 500 students in 24 classrooms.

Because the school will be located in Lipoma Firs, which has sidewalks throughout, Elementary #19 will be one of Bethel’s only “walking schools.”

Construction crews will break ground on the project in 2023 and look to have it completed in 2024.

Other projects to be funded by the voter-approved 2019 School Construction Bond

2025

Elk Plain School of Choice Improvements
New Kitchens at Bethel Middle and Roy Elementary

2026

Cedarcrest Middle School Improvements

2028

Old Bethel High School Renovations

Pierce County Skills Center: Evergreen Building

While it’s not a bond-funded project, the Pierce County Skills Center will soon have a brand new facility for two of its most popular programs. The Evergreen building, which is currently in the planning stages, is scheduled to house the Fire Sciences and Construction Trades programs in 2024.

When the building opens it will also include a brand new pre-electrical program, which was selected as a result of a survey of student interest and industry demand.

The project is all thanks to a $9.8 million award from the Washington State Legislature.