Back in the 'unique' summer of 2020 when, fresh from four months of empty school buildings due to COVID hysterics and the very real prospect of virtual learning looming for the upcoming school year, the Ludington Area School District (LASD) was set to choose which companies we would pay to construct a new $40+ million elementary school out in what used to be the school forest. LASD was admirably transparent about these contracts, and in ourreview of proposalswe were struck by how almost all of our money would be headed to companies based several counties away.
One of these companies was calledReliable Sheet Metal Inc. which is based in Ottawa County. They were set to do a task called "metal panel system" for just under $364,000, and though it wasn't clearly understood at the time by most, they would effectively be putting metal siding on the exterior of the school, usually above brick areas. The architect appears to have included this option in order to provide for internal wall wiring of security cameras, as these seem to coincide in the areas where the siding is located. The school would see its first students at the beginning of 2022. But by the next school year, problems were noted, and the company that billed itself as reliable was found to be the opposite in practice.
The Ludington Torch's recap of the February 2025 meeting where the board determined this company's work needed to be redone, reported:
"Another item dealt with contracting for replacement siding on the new elementary school. The original siding has not fared well, and due to the shoddy work, the school has negotiated with the Christman Company and the former contractor to pay $300K of the cost to replace the work. The lowest bid of the three contractors was local Vischer Construction and this will cost $220K to the LASD ($520K overall)."
That meeting's packet showed what that $520K entailed, with approximately $100K for demolition of the existing siding, with the work expected to be started after the school year and finished in August. Considering Reliable's refund of most of their contract, the siding on the elementary will cost nearly $600,000 when finished this August.
Earlier this month, we noticed that the siding replacement project was taking place after being contacted by parties wondering about why such an expensive, large-scale project to replace components of a very recently constructed elementary school was happening. Above, you can see the school's front entrance as a backdrop to a project in progress: one panel with siding completed next to four that had their siding removed. One can better see the 'mesh of metal used tp attach the siding to the outer wall of the school below:
Why was over a half-million-dollar siding replacement project needed just a school year after the Ludington Elementary School was given a prestigious building award for design that included the integration of siding with other features as a highlight?
Apparently, the "fostering of inclusion, equity, and relationship building" with windows and bricks were not realized by using siding that would not withstand a couple school years without needing demolition and replacement costing the district about twice what the original company contracted for. Notice the extent of the weather damage on the northwest corner of the elementary building during a period of time when our area has not experienced significant windstorms in the picture below:
Currently, the front looks like the following picture, with the panels near the front door completed and the NW side de-sided.
The SW side of the school was also in process that day, with ladders and replacement siding in view on the ground nearby. The grounds with newly replanted tress, patchy grass and weeds show that the siding was not the only contracted service that was terrible, the landscaping was just as bad. Wenoticed this last year, and it hasn't got any better 3.5 years after the school doors opened.
Honestly, it's hard to determine where the damaged parts of the siding are and where the demolition begins. Below, for example, the removed siding to the left appears to be from wind damage, the rightmost framework was probably revealed by Vischer.
It seems so wasteful spending $600,000 for a siding project like this when supposedly established architects (likeGMB) and project managers/coordinators (likeChristman) approved the original siding work as sound. Our older schools did not use a thin layer of cheap siding; they knew that masonry would last and that using two materials for external walls would weaken their integrity over time and during extreme natural events. It may get you awards from school architecture groups that think bricks alone are blase and uninspired, but it will give you a facility that may can last more than 100 years rather than 30-- and in some cases like this, one that will need a redo in under three years. The next question is when will they get the landscaping and irrigation done right.
EPILOG: The Ludington Torch has been on the case of the LASD for not only making the new elementary school isolated from most of the community, but also for making it effectively unreachable safely through non-motorized commuting (walking, bicycling, etc.). That neglect has finally been realized by the district, who relied too heavily on their project managers throughout their spending of the $101 million bond to cover all of the bases.
That omission may finally be realized before this upcoming school year, with construction of some improvements to their on-campus sidewalks coming to fruition. A new sidewalk actually leading out to Bryant Road is under construction as seen above, finally connecting it to the road. And while that in itself would not accomplish much, the construction of a sidewalk along Bryant Road leading to Kenowa is also in process, as seen from the school entrance on Bryant:
Frankly, this sidewalk should extend all the way to Washington Avenue to accommodate more non-motorized travel, but that will only come through a little more cooperation with the private school and other properties west of Kenowa doing their part in making such commuting safe. One can actually predict that the snobbish residents of Ludington's Forest Hills will raise a ruckus if children and/or their parents from other parts of Ludington go through their neighborhood on foot or bicycle on the way to or from school if this sidewalk route only goes to Kenowa and several take advantage of it.
Unfortunately, we offered our children an incomplete package when we sent them into this unfinished project known as Ludington Elementary back in January 2022. Project managers and architects gave us inferior exteriors, unsafe routes to school, and nightmare landscaping issues. Three years later, we're dealing with the first two by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and undoubtedly spending a lot each year to correct poor landscaping decisions of the past. The district is at least trying to correct mistakes and omissions they made, but it always gets more costly and makes us wonder why these learned people would err so badly in these and a variety of other problems that were addressed too late.
Choosing Sides and Sidewalks with Ludington Elementary
by XLFD
Jul 20
Back in the 'unique' summer of 2020 when, fresh from four months of empty school buildings due to COVID hysterics and the very real prospect of virtual learning looming for the upcoming school year, the Ludington Area School District (LASD) was set to choose which companies we would pay to construct a new $40+ million elementary school out in what used to be the school forest. LASD was admirably transparent about these contracts, and in our review of proposals we were struck by how almost all of our money would be headed to companies based several counties away.
One of these companies was called Reliable Sheet Metal Inc. which is based in Ottawa County. They were set to do a task called "metal panel system" for just under $364,000, and though it wasn't clearly understood at the time by most, they would effectively be putting metal siding on the exterior of the school, usually above brick areas. The architect appears to have included this option in order to provide for internal wall wiring of security cameras, as these seem to coincide in the areas where the siding is located. The school would see its first students at the beginning of 2022. But by the next school year, problems were noted, and the company that billed itself as reliable was found to be the opposite in practice.
The Ludington Torch's recap of the February 2025 meeting where the board determined this company's work needed to be redone, reported:
"Another item dealt with contracting for replacement siding on the new elementary school. The original siding has not fared well, and due to the shoddy work, the school has negotiated with the Christman Company and the former contractor to pay $300K of the cost to replace the work. The lowest bid of the three contractors was local Vischer Construction and this will cost $220K to the LASD ($520K overall)."
That meeting's packet showed what that $520K entailed, with approximately $100K for demolition of the existing siding, with the work expected to be started after the school year and finished in August. Considering Reliable's refund of most of their contract, the siding on the elementary will cost nearly $600,000 when finished this August.
Earlier this month, we noticed that the siding replacement project was taking place after being contacted by parties wondering about why such an expensive, large-scale project to replace components of a very recently constructed elementary school was happening. Above, you can see the school's front entrance as a backdrop to a project in progress: one panel with siding completed next to four that had their siding removed. One can better see the 'mesh of metal used tp attach the siding to the outer wall of the school below:
Why was over a half-million-dollar siding replacement project needed just a school year after the Ludington Elementary School was given a prestigious building award for design that included the integration of siding with other features as a highlight?
Apparently, the "fostering of inclusion, equity, and relationship building" with windows and bricks were not realized by using siding that would not withstand a couple school years without needing demolition and replacement costing the district about twice what the original company contracted for. Notice the extent of the weather damage on the northwest corner of the elementary building during a period of time when our area has not experienced significant windstorms in the picture below:
Currently, the front looks like the following picture, with the panels near the front door completed and the NW side de-sided.
The SW side of the school was also in process that day, with ladders and replacement siding in view on the ground nearby. The grounds with newly replanted tress, patchy grass and weeds show that the siding was not the only contracted service that was terrible, the landscaping was just as bad. We noticed this last year, and it hasn't got any better 3.5 years after the school doors opened.
Honestly, it's hard to determine where the damaged parts of the siding are and where the demolition begins. Below, for example, the removed siding to the left appears to be from wind damage, the rightmost framework was probably revealed by Vischer.
It seems so wasteful spending $600,000 for a siding project like this when supposedly established architects (like GMB) and project managers/coordinators (like Christman) approved the original siding work as sound. Our older schools did not use a thin layer of cheap siding; they knew that masonry would last and that using two materials for external walls would weaken their integrity over time and during extreme natural events. It may get you awards from school architecture groups that think bricks alone are blase and uninspired, but it will give you a facility that may can last more than 100 years rather than 30-- and in some cases like this, one that will need a redo in under three years. The next question is when will they get the landscaping and irrigation done right.
EPILOG: The Ludington Torch has been on the case of the LASD for not only making the new elementary school isolated from most of the community, but also for making it effectively unreachable safely through non-motorized commuting (walking, bicycling, etc.). That neglect has finally been realized by the district, who relied too heavily on their project managers throughout their spending of the $101 million bond to cover all of the bases.
That omission may finally be realized before this upcoming school year, with construction of some improvements to their on-campus sidewalks coming to fruition. A new sidewalk actually leading out to Bryant Road is under construction as seen above, finally connecting it to the road. And while that in itself would not accomplish much, the construction of a sidewalk along Bryant Road leading to Kenowa is also in process, as seen from the school entrance on Bryant:
Frankly, this sidewalk should extend all the way to Washington Avenue to accommodate more non-motorized travel, but that will only come through a little more cooperation with the private school and other properties west of Kenowa doing their part in making such commuting safe. One can actually predict that the snobbish residents of Ludington's Forest Hills will raise a ruckus if children and/or their parents from other parts of Ludington go through their neighborhood on foot or bicycle on the way to or from school if this sidewalk route only goes to Kenowa and several take advantage of it.
Unfortunately, we offered our children an incomplete package when we sent them into this unfinished project known as Ludington Elementary back in January 2022. Project managers and architects gave us inferior exteriors, unsafe routes to school, and nightmare landscaping issues. Three years later, we're dealing with the first two by spending hundreds of thousands of dollars and undoubtedly spending a lot each year to correct poor landscaping decisions of the past. The district is at least trying to correct mistakes and omissions they made, but it always gets more costly and makes us wonder why these learned people would err so badly in these and a variety of other problems that were addressed too late.