A school on the northwest side of Springfield is getting a makeover. Bissett Elementary, located in the 3000 block of W. Calhoun, was built in 1950. A groundbreaking for the renovation and expansion was held Tuesday.
It wasn’t included in Proposition S, the bond issue approved by voters for major district projects in 2023. But SPS Superintendent Dr. Grenita Lathan said money realized through savings on other projects allowed SPS to add this project as well as a new school for Bingham students, "efficient management of those bond dollars, paying attention to detail on every expenditure as it relates to the construction projects. And so building a brand new Bingham Elementary School, once again, a renovation and an addition for Bissett Elementary School."
John Oke Thomas, whose architecture firm designed how Bissett will look, said they’ll preserve the past while making the school a better learning environment for students.
"I called it a new wine inside an old skin, because the building itself that was built back in the 50s is going to remain just as it is. But everything else inside of it is all new," he said, "so, in a sense, what we are trying to do is to preserve the history of the building, but at the same time allow for all of the new facilities, all of the new technologies that comes into play to allow the building to be able to function in 2026 and beyond."
He said it will be community-focused with space for the surrounding neighborhood to use, including the outdoor area and storm shelter.
Kaylen Lee is a third-grade teacher at Bissett.
"So, honestly, like super excited to have like a solid storm shelter and everybody getting the spaces that they deserve, all the teachers, all the coaches and everybody," she said. So, everybody's going to have the space they deserve to give the students everything that they can."
Students will relocate to the old Sherwood School until their building is ready to move back into in 2027.
The budget for the project is $19, 978,682. Crossland Construction had the winning bid with a guaranteed maximum price of $16,156,692.
