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RACINE — A formal groundbreaking ceremony will be held on Friday morning at the site of the new Southern High School.

The ceremony is set to begin at 10 a.m. on Friday on the Southern Local Schools campus.

Earlier this month, the Southern Local Board of Education approved a contract with Kinsale Corporation for the construction of the new building and corrective work to the existing Southern Elementary building.

Kinsale Corporation, of Pomeroy, was the lowest of the two bidders during the second round of bids opened on May 31.

The contract for the project was awarded in the amount of $10,635,641 on June 12 during a special board meeting.

The base bid by Kinsale Corporation was $10,522,806 — slightly over the revised estimated cost of $10,500,000.

In addition, nine of the possible 16 alternates were selected. Alternates for the project which will be completed, are the outdoor classroom ($23,577); decorative fence ($14,125); polished concrete in lieu of VCT in lobby ($15,600); convection oven ($10,400); convection steamer ($13,776); open front display coolers ($20,000); cashier stations ($9,077); water line to existing high school portion to remain ($3,100); and sound turret ($3,200).

The only other bid received was from R.W. Setterlin Building Company, of Columbus, in the amount of $10,735,000, for a total of $235,000 over budget.

Originally, three bids were received, with all coming in more than 10 percent over budget, making a rebid and revised budget necessary.

The project is estimated to be completed by August of 2013.

Early site work on the project has already begun, with the contract for the project awarded earlier in the spring to Eclipse Company, LLC. Eclipse Company, which submitted the low bid in the amount of $776,433.57, with the base bid of $723,120.88.

The early site work includes ground work, drainage and utilities.