By Kyle Roberts
While the majority of Tuesday’s meeting was devoted to an update on the partnership between Lincoln Parish Schools and Louisiana Tech’s College of Education and Human Sciences, various project updates were discussed, as well.
Specifically, the Lincoln Parish School Board members voted to authorize the execution of substantial completion for both the Ruston High School Chillers (air conditioning) and Football Turf Projects, meaning the projects are both finished and control is returned to the school board office.
“The contracts are totally done, and they’ve been turned back over to us,” LPSB Superintendent Ricky Durrett said in a follow-up phone call. “We take over these projects now, and the warranties go into effect. It means everything has been finished and inspected.”
The bid for the chillers at Ruston High school were originally accepted in the May 2023 school board meeting with the cost being about $600,000 to update.
The new field turf replaced at James Field at Hoss Garrett Stadium has also been completed after construction began back in June of this year. The Bearcats have already played their home opener on the turf, beating Acadiana 35-27.
Following the approval for execution of substantial completion, the school board voted to authorize Clark Contractors of Little Rock. Ark., to move forward with the Construction Management at Risk Service (CMAR) for the Ruston School District No. 1 Bond Project.
The specific bond projects that require CMAR with be Ruston High’s new roof, the covered pavilion, both baseball and softball field upgrades, and both boys’ and girls’ dressing rooms in the main gymnasium, along with both the parking lot and security fencing at Ruston Junior High.
“It’s exciting that the process has started to get the rest of the projects going– all of these should be completed by August of 2026,” Durrett said.
Shannon Earls represented Clark Contractors at the meeting and expressed his excitement, citing his ties to Ruston as a Bearcat graduate.
“Thank you for your faith in us,” Earls said to the board. “I know we are new to you, but I’m not new to Ruston. I had the pleasure of growing up here, and it’s great to be back. You have my word we’re going to serve you well, and I believe you’ll enjoy the different phases of the projects based on how they’re managed. We want to say thank you, and we look forward to serving you.”
Hunter Smith of District 7 gave his appreciation to Clark Contractors for finding ways to include current Ruston High students in the construction process.
“(Clark Contractors) will partner with a local contractor (Triad Builders) here in Ruston,” Smith said. “Probably, the neatest thing for me is the program they provide to students of local schools that are interested in the construction field — they bring them along when they can as laborers or interns. That’s a really neat thing they did, and we’re excited about Clark and these guys getting started.”
Durrett added that the bidding for the Choudrant School District projects will begin in the next couple of months and should take 18 months to complete the new classrooms and building at Choudrant High School.
Updates on the remaining projects from the April 2024 approval vote will be given at future board meetings.
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