Award of three school construction contracts on the Navajo and Hopi Indian Reservations in Arizona totaling $1,224,334 and increasing pupil capacity by more than 50 percent was announced today by the Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs.
The contracts involve the replacing of a trailer school with permanent facilities; construction of a new school replacing one destroyed by fire; and construction of new facilities replacing two old schools on the reservation which are beyond rehabilitation.
School facilities at Red Lake (Tonalea), Arizona--presently enrolling 40 day pupils--will be completed to accommodate 60 day pupils. Red Lake has been a temporary trailer school, and will now be replaced with permanent facilities consisting of a two-classroom school with kitchen-multipurpose room; quarters for five employees; a storage and generator building; and necessary utilities. The contract was awarded to F. H. Antrim, and Schermann Construction Companies, of Phoenix, Arizona, on their low bid of $305,000.
At Hotevilla, approximately 40 miles west of Keams Canyon on the Hopi Reservation, a $424,671 contract has been awarded to the low bidder, Wilson, Hockinson, and Cantrall, Inc., of Albuquerque, New Mexico, to provide adequate facilities serving the Hotevilla and Bacabi communities. The old school building was destroyed by fire in 1945 and classes are now held in scattered, old buildings. The new facilities will provide accommodations for 150 day pupils--an increase of 53 students. The contract includes provisions for a new 5-classroom school with multipurpose room and kitchen; quarters for 4 employees; and all new utilities.
The third contract, for $494,663, provides for construction of new school facilities at Second Mesa, Arizona, also in the Hopi area. They will replace two present schools which have been in operation for over sixty years and are beyond repair. The two schools, located three miles apart, have a present enrollment of 156 pupils. Two hundred and forty students will be accommodated at the new site near Route 3 Highway. Accommodations will include an 8-classroom school; multipurpose room and kitchen; quarters for 8 employees; and new utilities. Successful low bidder for the contract was Wilson, Hockinson, and Cantrall, Inc., of Albuquerque, New Mexico.
