By Sue Kiesewetter
Enquirer contributor

LIBERTY TOWNSHIP - Lakota's two newest schools were built on time, despite a bad construction season, and came in under budget.

That message was brought to district officials by Tom Welch, who served as construction manager, and architect Mike Dingeldein.

"The property was an easy site to develop,'' Dingeldein said of the former VanGorden farm at the northwest corner of Princeton and LeSourdsville-West Chester roads.

"The only thing we didn't do that we planned was build a connecting road (between the three buildings). We have the opportunity to do that in the future if you think it's needed.''

Modeled after Lakota East and West high schools, Lakota Plains Junior School was built so it could be converted to a high school or expanded if enrollment warranted. It has wood ceilings and a main hallway similar to the Main Street central hall at Lakota East and West.

The district spent $13.8 million to construct the 113,777-square-foot junior school. It was originally budgeted at $14.5 million. The average square foot cost for the school was $121.79, well below the state region I market cost of $153.36 per square foot.

Similar savings were seen at the 90,901-square-foot VanGorden Elementary School.

VanGorden Elementary has 800-square-foot classrooms, below the state's 900-square-foot guideline for new schools, but larger than Lakota's average classroom of 775 square feet.

The square foot cost for that school was $113.64, compared to the regional average of $149.48 per square foot. The final cost was $10.3 million; it was budgeted at $11 million.

Savings from the two schools and other projects paid for with a $44.5 million bond issue approved three years ago allowed the district to pay for construction of a $2 million, 27,000-square-foot administration building between the two schools on the 85-acre site.

E-mail suek@infionline.net