Work began July 5 on the renovation of Riverside-Brookfield High School. On June 30, District 208 received the final permit it needed from the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District to begin work on replacing the football field with a synthetic surface. Excavation work on both the field and the outdoor track began last Thursday. Work is expected to take about six weeks to complete.

Also last week, engineers from the 20/10 Engineering began to walk through the RB building to closely examine the old building’s mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems. The firm works closely with the district’s architectural firm, Wight & Company and will present a report to the school board this fall outlining their recommendations.

Wight’s architects have been at work determining the final space needs of the renovation and expansion of RB, which was made possible by a building bond referendum passed in March. They have determined that the final footprint of the renovated and expanded high school will be approximately 412,000 square feet. That would be a 17-percent increase over the current size of the existing building, which is about 353,000 square feet.

“I feel that we can meet all of the needs that have been developed under the budget,” Wight’s senior designer, Andy Joseph, told the District 208 school board at its June 27 meeting.

While the total footprint has been identified, Wight & Co. is continuing to study how to divide up that space. The firm plans to complete a total schematic design of the project by November or December, Joseph said.

A matrix will determine the responsibilities of the various entities involved in the renovation and the expansion, said Pat Sumrow, who serves as the owner’s representative for District 208.

“We developed this matrix which pins down all the tasks of the reconstruction,” said Sumrow. “I have not done one before, and I think it is a worthwhile thing. This makes the lines of communication cleaner.”

Contracts have yet to be finalized for Wight, Sumrow and McHugh Construction, the firm the school board has selected to be the construction manager. Negotiations continue and the parties are all working under a letter of intent from the district.

Two weeks ago, District 208 completed the first bond sale for the project. On June 27, District 208 sold $25 million in general obligation bonds in the first of what is expected to be two bond offerings to fund the $58.8 million dollar project.

Piper Jaffray, a Minneapolis based investment firm, bought the bonds with a low bid of a 4.6-percent interest rate in a bid process that included seven firms. The district will pay back the bonds over 20 years.

“The interest rate was a little bit under what we promised the taxpayers,” said John Gibson, District 208’s business manager.