OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — The Oshkosh Area School District's planned renovation of Oshkosh North High School's auditorium is approximately $5 million over its original budget, but district leaders say the overall referendum project remains on track financially and taxpayers will not be affected.
The project was originally estimated to cost between $18 million and $20 million. The lowest bid — submitted by Miron Construction — came in at around $23 million.
District Superintendent Bryan Davis said the overrun is offset by savings from earlier projects.
"So, no impact to taxpayers," Davis said. "Earlier collections of projects at the elementary schools at Traeger, Oakwood, and at Franklin Elementary School came in under budget. And so as we look at the bringing in the auditorium overall, we're on pace for where we would be for the entire set of projects."
Board of Education President Dr. Mike Ford noted that the district is not immune from the effects of tariffs and the Iran war, which he says are contributing to a "volatile economy."
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Coleen Brocker, an Oshkosh North alumna and parent of a current student, said the upgrades are long overdue.
"I think it's well needed because because it is an older auditorium," Brocker said. "When I went to school here, we had to do all of the musicals and anything we had going on at the opera house because the auditorium just wasn't big enough for the musicals that this school is well known to put on."
Construction on the auditorium is scheduled to begin this month and is expected to be completed in August 2027.
Additional district projects are expected to continue through fall 2029, including the closure of Roosevelt Elementary and South Park and Perry Tipler Middle Schools, along with the opening of a Westside Middle School and a pre-kindergarten Center.
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