The Riverside School Board recently hired ThenDesign Architecture of Willoughby to provide design services for an expansion project at Riverview Elementary School in Painesville Township. Related Articles Local News | Lifeline’s HEAP Summer Crisis initiative serves over 300 households Local News | Veterans Day events planned in Northeast Ohio Local News | Lifeline, Inc. seeking volunteer tax preparers for upcoming season Local News | Lake County Treasurer’s Office holding Christmas/Holiday Lights Contest Local News | Rooted in Trees contributing to urban forest at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo The decision came about a month after the school board narrowly voted to expand Riverview, which had been proposed as one option for addressing space needs at the district’s elementary schools. TDA’s submitted proposal document stated that the school district is looking to add eight to 10 classrooms, which would include around 10,000 square feet of new construction and about 2,000 square feet of renovations. The firm added that work on the design and construction documents is expected to take about five months. TDA will also provide bidding, site visits and other planning and architectural services. The district will pay $325,000. The TDA agreement was approved 4-1 at the board’s Oct. 24 meeting, with board member Belinda Grassi voting against. Grassi and board President Lori Krenisky voted against the Riverview expansion proposal in September, while board members Denise Brewster, Scott Fishel and Dennis Keeney voted for it. Fishel added at the meeting that TDA was the only architecture company to apply for the job. District Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer Gary Platko said that the district will next hire a construction manager at risk. The board will approve a contract for that role at its Nov. 21 meeting, according to a district request for qualifications document. “Once design is completed by TDA, the construction manager at risk will bid out the project and will provide the district with a guaranteed maximum price for approval,” Platko said. Other services that the district expects the construction manager at risk to provide include cost estimating, budgeting, pre-construction planning, subcontract bidding, construction phase management and project safety, according to the district’s request for qualifications document. The board unanimously approved a number of other buildings and grounds-related projects at the October meeting, including a $47,350 purchase order to install new bathroom stall partitions on the Riverside Campus and a $48,500 purchase order to install fences around the retention ponds at Riverview and Parkside elementary schools. “People have seen kids driving their bikes down into there,” Fishel said of the retention ponds. “We don’t even want to think what could happen, so we’re fencing it so kids can’t go in there and get hurt.” Platko said that the bathroom stall work is expected to be completed during spring break 2025, which runs from March 24-28. The fencing is expected to be installed in December or January, depending on weather.