Rising costs causing roadblocks for $100 million renovation, expansion at Silver Creek Schools

SELLERSBURG, Ind. (WDRB) -- A $100 million project set to transform a southern Indiana school district is hitting roadblocks.

Construction on the new athletic facilities at Silver Creek School Corporation's campus is already underway. The transportation lot and elementary school drop-off have also relocated as part of the first phase of the project.

Superintendent Dr. Chad Briggs said the high school's renovation was supposed to start around the same time as the athletic facilities.

"We did the outdoor facilities first because our information we had said that getting our supply chain and things of that nature were a little bit more predictable," Briggs said.

However, Briggs said the cost of the bids for the school's expansion escalated and they had to put that phase on hold.

"The second time through, our competition was somewhat limited," he said. "And there's a number of factors that drive costs up right now with construction. And it doesn't matter what you're constructing. But like anything else, the more competition you have, the better chance you have of getting more competitive bidding."

Briggs said the expectations and scale of the transformation aren't changing, just the timing for now.

"And as much as we want to see change happen and improvements made, you know, we need to at least not pay the price that, that's presented to us initially," he said. "If we think that we can do better by restructuring some things, and having a little time go by and, again, I we think that it'll pay off but is regrouping. And yeah, it's been a delay, but again, it's the right approach."

Briggs said the cost of the project is still expected to be somewhere around $95 million to $100 million. He expects a new bid process to begin in February.

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