SPS board approves Reed construction bid

The Springfield Public Schools Board of Education has approved the construction bid for the new Reed Academy building.

The vote was 7-0 at yesterday's board meeting in favor of accepting DeWitt & Associates Inc.'s nearly $40 million bid for the project. The SPS board meeting was livestreamed on the district's YouTube page.

Travis Shaw, deputy superintendent of operations, told board members prior to the vote that with demolition work and property purchases combined with the contractor bid, the total estimate for the project is roughly $41 million, below the construction budget of $46.8 million. The total project budget approved by voters through the Proposition S bond issue is $59.5 million.

"It's going to allow us to have a healthy contingency budget," Shaw said. "We do know that we'll have change orders as we go through a two-year construction project."

DeWitt & Associates submitted the low bid out of two received on Feb. 20, Shaw said, noting there was a 1.5% difference between the two bids. He did not name the other bidder.

Sapp Design Associates Architects Inc. is the architect for the project with a completion goal by early 2026, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. Construction is now slated to start with the bid approval.

SPS previously purchased four parcels of land to the north of the existing Reed property amid demolition work last year. The site is located between Lyon and Campbell avenues, north of Atlantic Street.