Lead-Deadwood Elementary School preparing for final renovation phase

DEADWOOD, S.D. – The Lead-Deadwood Elementary School has the green light for the next phase of renovation.

Phase 3-b will bring some much needed change and new features to the school.

Plans include opening up and expanding the cafeteria space as well as upgrading the HVAC system for better heating and air circulation. Also part of the renovation will be some classroom updates, some of which have not been changed in 40 years.

The district was given a budget of $2.6 million, but came in a million over the first time around.

After resubmitting plans for the construction, the district received approval and is ready to move forward.

“We had to kind of go back to the drawing board and redesign a few things,” Superintendent Dr. Erik Person explained. “We changed the timeline to make it a little more convenient for the contractors, did some things to bring the prices down to rebid the project and came in quite a bit closer to where we needed to be.”

However, they are still working on plans before construction begins.

“We’re going to bring some costs down also. Some of the alternates, seeing what we would be able to afford to do and not do as far as some finishes in some of those individual classrooms,” Dr. Person said. “And so those are some of the next things over the next few months. We anticipate construction to begin in June.”

The building renovation is set to be completed by 2023.