Gainesville City Schools has taken another big step with its Gainesville High School campus improvements. 

During the school board’s Monday work session, the board approved the guaranteed maximum price of the Student Activities Center, which will house large-scale programs. The final bid from Carroll Daniel Construction came in at $19,999,431. The school system had previously budgeted $20 million as its projected cost. 

Gainesville Superintendent Jeremy Williams said the 90,000-square-foot, three-level center includes a gymnasium, locker rooms, meeting spaces, offices, classrooms and a top story for the school’s marching band and the Naval Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. A track will overlook the gym on the second story. 

“This (center) gives us the ability to showcase events and host events,” Williams said. “Too many times we’ve had to travel a good distance for track events.”

The Student Activities Center, anticipated to be completed by July 2022, will be located behind the new cafeteria and media center.

All of Gainesville High’s campus-wide improvements, which also include a three-story instructional building and Advanced Studies Center, are expected to cost $55 million.

“The biggest part is when you look at what we’re doing at the campus of Gainesville High School, our goal is to provide the best for all of our kids,” Williams said. “And we do not want to put something out there that a kid is not going to be excited about.”