SARANAC LAKE — Saranac Lake Central School District officials are gearing up for the first phase of an $18.7 million capital project approved in January by district voters.

School administrators held an all-day meeting last week with representatives of Tetra Tech Architects & Engineers, the company the district has hired to design the project.

“Tetra Tech came with the project engineers and the interior designer and others,” said Superintendent Diane Fox. “We had quite a group here. We had back to back meetings for any parts of the project that would need design work. We had people in and out all day.”

Two big projects are scheduled to take place this summer, as part of phase 1A: an estimated $836,000 re-roofing of part of the Petrova Elementary and Saranac Lake Middle School building, and more than $500,000 in work at Saranac Lake High School, including replacement of the gym floor and bleachers.

“Our bleachers do not meet the new (Americans with Disabilities Act) or safety compliance with handrails and facing,” Fox said. “In order to do a new gym floor we have to move our bleachers, and the minute we move our bleachers they have to meet the new requirements. Our bleachers are old, and it’s time to make sure they’re safe.”

The project’s phase 1A also includes improvements to the track and field area at the high school, but other field improvements that were supposed to take place this year could be pushed back, Fox explained.

“We had some field enhancements in this phase which would have been this summer,” Fox said, “but I think we’re going to put that off for a year because we want to make sure the people who use our fields — (Can-Am) rugby, Cycle Adirondacks, the softball and baseball teams — we hadn’t given those people enough time to know that part or all of those fields will be unavailable, so we probably will back that up. But we are working on our track stuff outside.”

Work planned in subsequent phases of the capital project includes reconfiguration of the bus drop-off and parking area, replacement of boilers and installation of an electrical generator at the Petrova building. Other work planned at the high school includes replacement of retaining walls, electrical system upgrades, replacement of windows, installation of a new fire alarm system and a plan to connect the Industrial Arts Building to the school.

Plumbing, ventilation and electrical work is planned at Bloomingdale Elementary School, while the former Lake Colby School building, which is now leased to day-care providers, would see replacement of its stairs, electrical and plumbing upgrades. Flooring improvements, window replacement, and electrical and plumbing work are planned for the school bus garage on state Route 3 outside of Bloomingdale.

At last week’s meeting, Tetra Tech representatives met with school principals, and in some cases teachers and staff, where capital project work is scheduled to take place.

“We’re trying to invite people who are involved to come and be part of the conversation,” Fox said. “For example, we’re building a connector between the industrial arts building and the high school. (High School Principal) Josh Dann was part of that. Josh Marlow, who’s our technology teacher, was there.”

The school district is currently seeking a construction management firm to oversee the project. Proposals are due March. 23.

“It’s still early but we’ve had some companies coming for walk-throughs,” Fox said. “We’ve had people emailing us questions. There’s certainly been some interest, yes.”

The capital project was approved in January by a vote of 329 to 77.