PRESS RELEASE: St. Louis, Mo., June 6, 2016 – S. M. Wilson & Co. has been selected by the Ladue School District to perform $82.2 million worth of additions and renovations to Ladue Horton Watkins High School beginning this summer. Construction will focus on updating the academic core of the building where classrooms have not been significantly renovated since being built in the 1950s and 1960s. Funding for the project comes from an $85.1 million bond referendum passed by the District’s voters in April.
Preparations for construction have already begun with initial efforts focused on creating temporary classrooms within the existing building, installing outdoor classrooms that will primarily be dedicated to science programming, establishing construction staging areas, reconfiguring parking and traffic flow, and beginning abatement and the demolition process of the portion of the backside of the building that will be rebuilt. The project is anticipated to be substantially completed by the beginning of the 2018-19 school year.
When completed, the high school will feature classrooms designed to accommodate today’s educational best practices which require spaces conducive to collaboration across disciplines, small group work, the integrated use of science, technology, engineering, art and math (STEAM), and the opportunity for students to apply their knowledge in real-world applications and group-based projects. Other features will include:
- A three-story Commons Area at the apex of corridors leading to various academic areas;
- Seminar and breakout areas mixed in with classrooms, enabling small group work;
- A lecture area large enough to enable speakers to address multiple classes simultaneously; and
- Spaces to exhibit student work throughout the building.
S. M. Wilson provided pre-referendum informational services to the Ladue School District, and will provide pre-construction and construction management services for the project. Hastings+Chivetta and Bond Architects are the architectural firms selected for the project and also began work on the project well before the initiative was approved by voters in April.
In 2011, S. M. Wilson completed construction of a $14 million Early Childhood Center for the Ladue School District. The company has also completed a variety of renovations and additions at many of the District’s elementary, middle school, and high school facilities.
S. M. Wilson is a full-service construction management, design/build and general contracting firm with headquarters in St. Louis. S. M. Wilson is one of the largest general construction and construction management firms in the St. Louis area. The company posted $305 million in 2015 revenues, and ranks 220th in Engineering News-Record’s 2016 list of Top 400 commercial contractors nationwide. For more information, visit www.smwilson .com.