MLSD chooses builder for Groff Elementary School

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake School District awarded a $17.9 million contract to build its next elementary school to Richland-based Fowler General Construction on Thursday.

According to MLSD spokesperson Claren McLaughlin, the bid comes in under the district’s projected cost for Groff Elementary School of $18.2 million and includes roughly $1.5 million in alternatives and add-ons, such as playground equipment, carpet quality and a security system.

According to the company’s website, Fowler specializes in school and office building construction, and locally has overseen the construction of the new Quincy High School as well as the Columbia Basin Technical Skills Center.

The new elementary school, which will be the district’s eleventh, will be built as part of the revised $135 million school construction bond first approved in a hotly contested election in February 2017, which saw the bond measure pass by only three votes.

Initially, the bond would have funded the construction of a second high school, for 1,600 students, as well as one new elementary school. However, following a year-long court challenge to the legitimacy of the election and the election of two new school board members, the board determined the district needed a smaller second high school and two new elementary schools instead.

Groff Elementary is named after Vicki Groff, who served on the Moses Lake School Board for 30 years before retiring in 2019. Construction is set to begin this summer and should be complete by fall 2021.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.