With site clearing for a new high school in south Ocala tentatively scheduled to begin this fall, a construction management firm contracted by the Marion County School Board for $5.575 million earlier this month has issued an invitation to subcontractors to begin bidding on various portions of the $130 million project.
Wharton-Smith, Inc. is soliciting proposals from prequalified subcontractors for the construction of High School “CCC” at 1350 SW 165th Street in Ocala.
The 116.36-acre site is located just south of the Summer Glen community golf course. It will serve the east Marion Oaks community.
Currently, students who live in that section of the city/county are zoned for Dunnellon High School. High School CCC is approximately 21 miles east of Dunnellon High, around 17 miles south of West Port High School, and about 12 miles west of Belleview High School.
A preliminary site plan for the new high school calls for the construction of approximately 290,000 square feet of “finished floor space” in the form of a campus/administrative building, a large auditorium, a cafeteria, and a gym with locker rooms.
The plan shows approximately 200 staff parking spaces and 660 student parking spaces on campus, as well as several sports amenities including baseball and softball fields, a track and field with seating, a tennis court, and other practice fields.
Earlier this month, Marion County School Board officials approved the $5.575 million contract with Wharton-Smith, Inc., which is headquartered in Sanford, Florida, to manage the construction project.
Approval of that contract came during a special school board meeting held in the middle of a three-hour work session in which the school board and staff announced plans to take over alternative learning throughout the district.
According to the invitation to bid by Wharton-Smith, site clearing, mass grading, and early procurement of equipment are all scheduled to tentatively begin in November 2024.
The main bid package, which will include the remaining site work and buildings, is tentatively scheduled to bid in late January 2025.
Construction of the high school is projected to begin in April 2025 and should be complete by July 2026, according to the invitation.
According to Wharton-Smith, RFIs for the preliminary bid packages are due by 2 p.m. on Thursday, August 29, and bids are due on Thursday, September 12 at 2 p.m. All RFIs and bids may be emailed to comest@whartonsmith.com.
