ESD breaks ground on Mason County remodel, expansion; relocating Hart employees.
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By Rob Alway, Editor-in-Chief.
AMBER TOWNSHIP (Mason County) — The West Shore Educational Service District broke ground today on a $2.5 million expansion and upgrade to its facility located at 2130 W. US 10-31. The new project will result in the relocation of Oceana County employees to the Mason County facility.
The construction cost will address general building maintenance needs, constructing new state-of-the-art classroom space, remodeling and relocating offices to increase student and staff safety, making major improvements in security within the building, implementing state of the art technology, providing additional conference rooms, providing primary office space to accommodate and include all ancillary support staff in a single location, and upgrading/resurfacing of parking lots.
The building was built in the early 1970s and has had little upgrading since, Howes said.
BCI Construction of Grand Rapids was awarded the bid as general contractor. During a meeting in March, board members commented that they were pleased to see a significant number of local sub-contractors included in the awarded bid and excited to see the project moving forward, said Superintendent Randy Howes.
“We have been working collaboratively with our staff on developing the details of this plan for over a year and setting aside funding for several years in anticipation of this needed maintenance and upgrade work. It’s nice to be able to implement these needed improvements which will enhance our mission…and to be able to do so at no additional cost to our taxpayers.”
The ESD has also recently announced that it will be selling its southern office located at 844 Griswold St. in Hart. Staff members from that facility will be relocated to the Amber Township facility in Mason County.