The Easton, Mass., Select Board has awarded a $63.6 million contract for construction of a new elementary school.

The Journal News Independent reports that the Blanche Ames Elementary School will serve as a regional school for grades pre-K to 2. The facility will be built at teh site of the Parkview school in Easton.

Construction is expected to begin this spring; the new school should be ready for occupancy in January 2023, district officials say.

 “This is a huge milestone,” Select Board member Marc Lamb says. “Years of work have gone into getting where we are today.”

The design created by Perkins Eastman is for a two-story building with wings of classrooms and a central core housing two cafeterias, a gymnasium, kitchen, music and art rooms and a media center. The second cafeteria is smaller for use by the youngest students.

Pre-K and kindergarten classes will be on the first floor; first and second grades will be on the second floor.

When it became evident the bids would come in under budget because of the Covid-19 pandemic's effect on the market, an alternative add-on was put out to bid — using terrazzo tile instead of linoleum in some areas of the school. Using the tile added $148,537 to the cost of the project.