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When construction ends, Urbandale High School will have a new 140,000-square-foot facility on almost 37 acres of land.

“We will demolish the existing building in the future,” said Matt Stence, project manager with Rochon Corp., which is a co-general contractor for the project at 7111 Aurora Ave. in Urbandale.

In order to work around the availability of bond money and the students’ schedules, the project, which will cost more than $17 million, has been broken into four phases. Rochon has started all of the phases.

The first phase consists of constructing administrative offices and a woods laboratory (like wood shop). “Phase one is substantially complete,” Stence said. “There is a (small) list of items still going on.”

Phases two and three are a combination of classrooms, a cafeteria, a kitchen, and band and music rooms. Each area is under construction and they are scheduled to be completed in August. The roofing for each is finished, and Rochon is working on the interior. The auditorium, or the fourth phase, was started on April 1 and is scheduled to be completed in January 2009.

Overall, the project is about 65 percent complete, Stence said.

“We have survived a lot and been challenged a lot,” said Greg Robinson, superintendent of the Urbandale Community School District. “We have support from the local community and we are continuing to think creatively … to keep a balance and use the tax dollars wisely.”

Homemakers Furniture

Hansen Co. Inc. started the second phase of the Homemakers Furniture Inc. renovation and addition at the beginning of May.

The project, which had been in the planning stages for around five years, is “all about improving the customer experience and efficiency,” said Greg Cushings, vice president of business development at Hansen. “From the point of sale to out the door.”

The project, located at 10215 Douglas Avenue in Urbandale, will total 308,000 square feet, including the addition of 127,000 square feet of retail space and 64,000 square feet of warehouse space. Work began last summer and is scheduled to be completed in the summer of 2009.

The $30 million project is divided into four phases. Hansen recently completed the first phase, a new south showroom. Another part is the customer pickup area and office space, which Cushings said should be finished at the end of this month.

Phase two should be complete in late summer and includes a second-floor sales area and escalators. Phase three involves remodeling the north sales floor. The fourth phase will begin at the end of the summer, with demolition of the west sales area and building a new sales addition.