Avon

By Rebecca Turman

The Avon Board of Education will hold a special meeting Feb. 7 to review architectural proposals for a new middle school and other projects for the school district.

During the Jan. 10 board meeting, Avon Board President Kevin Romanchok said the district is looking for “architectural help.”

Included in the “help” is “architectural guidance for (a) new middle school,” Romanchok said, should the school district’s request for a bond issue pass on the March ballot.

In July 2009, the Avon Board of Education members at that time approved a contract with MKC Associates Inc. to work on designing a new middle school, pending support from Avon voters.

MKC has a history with the school district, as the firm designed Heritage North and South Elementary Schools and the high school expansion.

“We’ve come to the end of our agreement with MKC,” Romanchok said in an interview last Friday, adding that the contract expired at the end of 2011.

Romanchok said the purpose of the Feb. 7 meeting, to be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Heritage North Elementary School Media Center, is to establish an “architect on record for the district” that will be prepared to move forward with the middle school project, if the bond issue passes, and also be able to handle the district’s summer projects.

“(We will be) working with an architect on more specific alternatives … if the bond doesn’t pass,” he added.

“(We) need to have the projects ready … get the bidding process ready,” Romanchok said, adding the district will be accepting proposals from architects until Jan. 27.

During the Feb. 7 meeting, the board will interview the architecture firms and “come up with a methodology for rating them,” according to Romanchok.