DOWAGIAC — School may be out for winter break, but construction crews will still be hard at work finishing up the final touches of Dowagiac’s school bond passed in 2015.

One delay noticed during the football season was the Chris Taylor Alumni Athletic field project. Delays due to weather and possible new legislation with team rooms also contributed to construction being set back.

Superintendent Jonathan Whan predicted the concession stand, fieldhouse and new main entrance at the north end of the complex would be finished by the end of the week.

A “walk of fame,” which is going to be a large sidewalk spanning from the main gate on the north end of the field to the bleachers and will eventually connect to the front of the concession stand, ran into some setbacks in late October and early November. The construction crew poured the concrete, but later had to pull it back out because of mistakes. The concrete needs to be poured again.

Whan said there is potential the construction crew could pour the concrete sometime in January depending on weather conditions. If it does not get completed before winter truly hits, the concrete will have to be poured in the spring. The construction company taking out the concrete and replacing it does not add costs to the school and is the responsibility of the construction company.

Areas of the athletic field that have been worked on still need to be seeded and taken care of.

Another big project to still be completed is the fence project, for which Whan pitched several design components at a working meeting in late July. The project will include a new fence with pillars around the stadium. A new electrical sign, which was also part of the discussions, has already been installed.

Whan said he is expecting everything to be completed by the end of the school year.

“We are looking to finally be done,” Whan said. “It was supposed to be done before homecoming, and then things just came up. It’s unfortunate, but it happened, and we were able to pull off homecoming and the end of the football season. It should be ready to rock and roll with everything done by the end of the school year, definitely before the beginning of fall.”

Whan added the district is in a punch list section of the bond and making sure all the “i’s” are dotted and “t’s” are crossed.

“It’s the small stuff that unless you were looking for it, you wouldn’t even notice,” he said. “That’s the type of stuff, and that’s where the contractors are at. We are getting close to stop referring to things as bond projects.”

One of those items is working on a hood in the kitchen at Sister Lakes Elementary. Whan said the kitchen hood will be the final project to be completed as part of the elementary school’s projects.

Despite the setbacks, Whan said he is still appreciative of what the community did in supporting the bond and sees that facilities are already in better shape.

“It’s understandable I think there is a little frustration on the length of times for some things,” he said. “When I talk to people throughout the community and the district, they think that what has been done and what will be finally completed is definitely upgrades throughout the district.  Overall, I’ve had parents say their students like what they have and what they are dealing with in school. From my perspective, I’ve really heard 99.6 percent positive.”