Viroqua School District officials expect the district's $9.89 million renovation project for the high school and middle school to begin in May.

Doug Ramsey of HSR and Associates gave a Power Point presentation on the final design and the plan for construction to the school board Monday night. Money for the project was approved by taxpayers in a November 2004 referendum.

Ramsey said the school will "basically be a new facility" when completed with all new mechanical systems, new windows, doors, ceilings, lighting, roof and a new entryway and commons area.

Dean Bodensteiner, who is project manager with the general contactor Fowler and Hammer, laid out the schedule for the project. Boden-steiner said it will have four phases and will begin with some excavation and footers being poured in early May. As soon as classes are out, the front of the school will be opened to begin construction of the only new portion of the building, which is the commons area.

Bodensteiner said the main focus for the summer will be asbestos abatement.

"There is asbestos floor tile everywhere," Bodensteiner said. "It is a huge undertaking to remove it."

Because of the removal of the tiles the other crews that will begin some the mechanical systems and demolition work will have to work around the abatement crews.

"That will dictate the much of the work," Bodensteiner said.

Because all the floor tile has to be removed crews will be removing "pretty much everything that is not bolted down", Bodensteiner said. That means a storage place will have to be found for desks and anything else that is in the classrooms and offices. Bodensteiner said the gym is the logical place to store everything and crews will begin lining the floor with plywood as soon as work gets underway.

"I know the district would like to have the use of the gym for the summer, but I think this is the best solution to speed things up," Boden-steiner said.

The gym will still be available for graduation on May 28 and crews will make sure that temporary access is available to the gymnasium through the construction, Boden-steiner said.

The commons area is expected to be completed by late fall or early winter of this year with the rest of the project being completed by the start of fall classes in 2006.