PENDLETON — Construction for a new athletic expansion at Pendleton Heights High School will start in August.

The South Madison Community School Corp. board has approved final bids for the plans to build a new activity center and wrestling room at the school, meaning work will begin soon.

District leaders received bids for the multimillion-dollar improvement project in mid-July and then approved the chosen bids to get the physical work rolling as soon as possible.

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Superintendent Joe Buck said he was very pleased with the dollar figure on the bids and the number of contractors who expressed interest in the project.

Contractor participation was exceptionally high, with 11 general construction companies, three mechanical contractors and six electrical contract companies submitting bid proposals.

The low bidder for general construction work was McDougall Pierce Construction Inc. with a total bid of $4,952,800. The mechanical construction low bidder was Greiner Brothers Inc. ($1,275,000). The electrical construction low bidder was West Electric Inc. ($827,705).

“The bidding was tight with close numbers from the majority of the bidders,” Buck said.

The district’s engineers for the project, Stair Associates Inc. Engineers & Architects, and the board approved all three bids.

The construction and renovation will be the first major project at the high school in some 20 years, district leaders said.

The current activity center will get a major facelift. Once finished, the project will include three regulation-size basketball courts and a three-lane running track, plus a new weight-lifting room.

The wrestling area and locker room part of the project would include two new locker rooms — one boys and one girls — that will be accessible from the outside for fall and spring activities as well as from the inside.

The district also plans to expand the existing wrestling area and add restrooms, office space, storage space and a laundry room.

The activity center will also be designed to accommodate a variety of uses, such as practice space for high school athletic teams; practice space for band, choir, color guard and percussion organizations; and space for other co-curricular and extra-curricular activities.

Buck said it’s important to build the new facilities because there is competition among school districts, including competition for students.

Construction is expected to begin in August. If all goes according to plans and the weather cooperates, the activity center will be under a roof by the end of November.

This would allow for interior work to continue throughout the winter, with the project expected to be done before the start of the 2019-20 school year, Buck said.