The consolidated high school that the Christian County Board of Education voted to construct for an estimated $115 million will cost considerably more, according to construction bids from two Kentucky-based contractors.
District officials opened two bids on Tuesday — one for roughly $204 million from D.W. Wilburn Inc. in Lexington and the other for nearly $199 million from A&K Construction in Paducah.
Based on information Superintendent Chris Bentzel and his administration presented last summer in support of the consolidated high school plan, the two bids don’t appear to be within the district’s current financial means.
“District officials are evaluating their options at this time,” the superintendent’s office said in a press release.
Both proposals had “designated alternate options” and met bidding requirements, according to the release.
When the school board voted last August to proceed with the consolidated high school plan, district officials said they would use $70 million in bonding capacity, plus $32 million in federal coronavirus relief money. Grant money would complete the financing package. Some of the federal money must be spent by the fall of 2024.
With a capacity for 2,500 students, the school is slated to open at the start of the 2024-25 academic year. It would combine Hopkinsville and Christian County high schools and the district’s vocational programs into one campus.
The school board voted in February to name the new school Hopkinsville Christian County Academy.
A board retreat meeting is scheduled to begin at noon Thursday, July 14, at the Murray State University Regional Campus in Hopkinsville. The agenda includes a discussion item for “Hopkinsville-Christian County Academy Bid & Construction Update.” Under the Kentucky Open Meetings Law, the retreat meeting must be open to the public.
The concept for a consolidated high school campus emerged after Christian County voters overwhelming rejected a nickel tax referendum in 2019. Opponents forced the referendum after the school board approved the nickel tax. Supporters wanted the tax revenue to increase the district’s bonding capacity so new academic buildings could be constructed to replace aging facilities at Hopkinsville and Christian County high schools.
At that time, district officials were looking at a plan to first rebuild Hopkinsville High School and to follow up with construction at Christian County High School five years later.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
