Construction is moving along on budget at Bigfork High School as it undergoes a $14 million renovation and addition.

From one end of the building to the other, crews are in different phases of construction. The project will add 30,000 square feet to the high school’s footprint.

“We’re right where we need to be,” said Mark Casalegno, superintendent and co-owner of Hammerquist Casalegno, about being on schedule.

Some portions of the project are ahead of schedule, such as a new bus barn, which is framed in. Construction of the bus barn initially was slated for the spring. Masonry crews also are slightly ahead of schedule building the walls of four new locker rooms and a community/multipurpose room.

Casalegno said there have been a few unexpected minor issues that had minimal impact on the project.

“We were far enough ahead of it they weren’t problems, just small hurdles,” Casalegno said, such as trying to locate storm-drain structures underground.

“We have a really good group here working together — CTA, the school district, Hammerquist Casalegno,” Casalegno said.

This has been a project of pride for Casalegno, who is a Bigfork High School graduate. His children also went to school at Bigfork.

“To come back here and work on my school gives me a sense of pride,” Casalegno said.

On Tuesday, Bigfork Superintendent Matt Jensen and Bigfork High School Principal Alan Robbins met by the main office to give a tour. Walking down the end of the hall, Jensen and Robbins stopped at a plywood wall separating students from construction on the other side. Jensen held open a makeshift door leading into the construction zone.

On the other side, eight classrooms — split between the first and second floors — are nearing completion in time for teachers to start moving sometime in December. Then remodeling work on existing classrooms can begin. In some of the new classrooms, crews were installing drywall this week.

Jensen pointed to a set of windows overlooking a swath of dirt that he said will eventually be transformed into a courtyard where engraved bricks purchased by community donors will be laid.

While crews were busy working downstairs, the upstairs was empty and fairly quiet. Students’ voices could be faintly heard when standing next to the exterior walls of a classroom in the older part of the building.

“We put some insulation up on this side of the wall to minimize noise,” Jensen said noting that disturbances have been minimal and students have been great about working around the construction.

In one of the upstairs classrooms Jensen pointed out a view of Bigfork Harbor.

A highlight of the project are science labs adjoined by a chemical storage room and fume hood. Without any furniture, equipment or drywall, the room already is a noticeable improvement from the cramped, old lab. It’s larger and will be outfitted for chemistry, biology and physics. On the ceiling, Jensen pointed out a structure that will allow physics classes to hang heavy pendulums and other objects for demonstrations or experiments.

“We wanted to catch every detail,” Jensen said.

The high school construction and renovation project was driven by a need for more space at a point when storage rooms and closets had been converted into classrooms and some classes had to be held in the middle school.

Jensen and Robbins were also excited to talk about the band room, which will feature practice rooms — “a big addition to the music program,” Robbins said.

They walked outside the building and toward the gym, where four new locker rooms will be located. Right now, it’s just walls of concrete blocks. Farther down, masons busily worked on building the walls of a community/multipurpose room. This is another highlight of the renovation project. Casalegno said there’s a push to get everything enclosed before winter.

“We’re trying to push masonry as much as we can and dry as much as we can before winter,” Casalegno said. “We’ll probably have a roof on some of the locker expansion in a week and a half. The community room is about two weeks out before we have a roof on there.”

Beyond the community/multipurpose room, across the road, crews were sheathing a bus barn.

When the basketball season is over Jensen said work will begin on the gym.

Jensen and Robbins brought the tour full circle with a quick stop to show the upgrade to the wood shop ventilation system and replaced windows. Tubes that suction out sawdust are attached to shop equipment. While there is still sawdust on the floor, the amount has been significantly reduced in part to the new system.

“You can really see the progress going on around the building,” Jensen said.

All the construction is expected to be completed by December 2017.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at [email protected].