Nacogdoches ISD trustees voted unanimously Thursday to accept the low base bid of $7.03 million from Construction Managers of Southeast Texas LLC for construction of a training and conference center. The total cost of the project – which includes furniture, fixtures, equipment, technology, HVAC controls, and architectural and engineering design fees – will be $8,029,890. Army Curtis designed the center.
The training and conference center is the final piece of the 2018 bond package approved by voters. The facility will allow NISD to host its own teaching staff for training and continuing education events, something the district has lacked.
“This facility will provide us the flexibility to hold large scale training events for our teaching staff,” said Superintendent Dr. Gabriel Trujillo. “We don’t have anything like this right now in the district, and it will be used many, many times each year for training and professional development.
“I’m grateful for the board’s approval, and I’m grateful for the district’s voters who supported this bond more than five years ago.”
The facility will be roughly 12,000 square feet when complete. Construction of additional parking is included in the project and will be located across the street from the District Support Center, and Klein Drive leading from NE Stallings Drive to the DSC will be resurfaced.
The center will come with a large meeting room and two smaller breakout rooms. The layout can be reconfigured in multiple ways depending on what’s needed with a total capacity of around 350 people.
The project is expected to take around 16 months to complete once construction begins later this year.
NISD was able to save some bond spending because of federally-provided ESSER funds during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of the funds were intended to improve HVAC systems in public schools and were used by NISD to upgrade heating and cooling systems being installed in the facilities built using bond proceeds.
“Plans for the training facility were put in place at the beginning by my predecessor, Alton Frailey, who hoped there would be enough funding remaining at the end of the bond program,” Trujillo said. “We’re fortunate to have received the federal funds, and the board and the district spent wisely during the course of construction of all the promised facilities.”
During Thursday’s board meeting, trustees also approved two other projects: Renovation of the district’s Plant Services facility at a cost of $1.04 million and a waterproofing project at Nacogdoches High School at a cost of $1.4 million. The Plant Services and NHS projects will be paid for out of the capital improvement project fund created earlier this year by NISD trustees.