Marion school board approves documents, sets date to review bids for new school

MARION - The Marion Independent school board Monday approved 95 percent of construction documents and scheduled a special meeting for 4:30 p.m. May 9 to review bids for the district's new Longfellow Elementary School.

If a bid is accepted, construction could begin almost immediately, with projected occupancy in August 2017.

The new preschool to second grade building, slated to replace Emerson Elementary School, is being designed by OPN Architects.

The new school will be built on a site between Eighth and 10th avenues and 29th and 31st streets in Marion. The site formerly was home to the Kirkwood Learning Center and, before that, the district's old Longfellow School.

The proposed school will face south with a west-oriented gymnasium/cafeteria, center-oriented office and art and music rooms, and east-oriented academic and media center wing.

The base plan includes two classrooms each for second grade, first grade, special education and preschool and three kindergarten classrooms. There is space for two additional classrooms to the north and three additional classrooms to the south.