FLUSHING - Rapid population growth has fueled numerous school building construction boomlets in some parts of Michigan.

In other areas, like Genesee County's Flushing, population growth is stable or slow, but major construction projects are taking place for other reasons. Here, an outmoded middle school, built in 1927, is being replaced with a larger, modern building that's expected to provide an improved learning environment.

A $25 million bond issue will pay for the new school as well as for renovations to the current junior high school. The new middle school is expected to be ready for students in January 2006.

Wolgast Corp. is managing the project. A superintendent on the site said "we're ahead of the game; the workers have done a good job for us." He and the Flushing School District referred questions about the project to Wolgast's field manager, who didn't reply to our request for comment on the project.

According to literature provided by the Flushing Community School District, about 700 seventh and eight-grade students will be served by the new school. The two-story building sits on a 29-acre site, and will have larger classrooms, numerous athletic fields, and space all around the building for parking.

The Flushing Community School District decided to build a new middle school instead of expanding existing facilities. The major portion of the current junior high school was built in 1927, with an addition built in 1965. The new junior high school will be six times larger than the current 75,497 square-foot building.

The 1965 addition to the existing middle school will be renovated to create and early childhood center. The 1927 portion of the existing middle school building will be used for daytime and evening community education classes.

"It's been a pretty straightforward job, and a nice employer for us over the winter," said Doug Heron, a Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 370 foreman for Johnson and Wood Mechanical.

The Flushing Middle School project is one of four new middle schools that are going up in Genesee County. Combined, the projects are fueling more than $100 million in school work in the region.

THE CHILLED WATER system at the new Flushing Middle School is tested by foreman Doug Heron of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 370 and Johnson and Wood Mechanical.

PULLING WIRE at a 480-volt main switchgear at Flushing Middle School are Kirk Thatcher and Mike Mannino of IBEW Local 948 and J. Ranck Electric.