Expansions at Dellwood Middle School are set to be completed by their construction deadline in May, 2004, according to Works and Engineering Minister Terry Lister.

The final phases of the $4-million conversion of the facility from a primary school into a middle school were set to be completed in 2001, but problems with the architects resulted in severe delays.

Former Works and Engineering Minister Alex Scott said last January the previous Government had signed a contract with architects to complete each of the phases at Dellwood, but the company then went out of business. A new set of architects then had to be found. ?Just getting that sorted out, from a legal point of view, took time.?

Superior Builders were awarded the contract for construction of the school?s new science block, gymnasium, amphitheatre, sports courts and therapy rooms at the end of 2002.

The total cost was pegged at $4.3 million, and Superior promised to ?fast forward? the project to ensure it was completed.

Preparation work began on the site in December 2002, and Mr. Lister said construction of the amphitheatre and gymnasium were set to be completed in May.

?It?s a great project, it?s going really well,? Minister Lister said on Tuesday.

?We are creating an amphitheatre similar to the one at Sandy?s Sec, that?s coming along really nicely. And behind that we are building a new gym.

?They never had a full-scale gym, they had an auditorium that doubled as a gym, so we are giving them that.?

Superior are also building a hard-top basketball court and a science building, said owner Rudy Richardson. The grounds will also be landscaped and paved, and the amphitheatre will be completely wheel-chair accessible.

?We had hoped to be a bit further ahead with the amphitheatre, but we thought we would concentrate on the science building and the buildings below,? said Mr. Richardson.

Superior has encountered some delays, he added, in particular with the pilings for the foundation of the gym. ?Originally there were 28 pilings for the gym,? said project manager Maurice Cullen. ?But because of ground conditions we decided we needed 66 pilings instead. That held up the construction period by almost four months.

?We got an extension for that, and we?re now on a revised schedule, which we are meeting.?

?I?m quite happy with the way things are going,? said Mr. Richardson. ?A few weeks down the road you will start to see more and more subcontractors on the site.

?This has been quite a job, I?ve loved pretty much every moment of it.?