Stonington — Representatives of the firms working on the $67 million renovation and expansion of 48-year-old Deans Mill and West Vine Street schools presented updated floor and site plans and phasing details during a community meeting hosted by the K-12 Building Committee on Tuesday night.

The design of the project, which was approved overwhelmingly by voters last year, will be completed by the end of the year, with construction manager Gilbane Building Co. bidding the various aspects of the project in February. The groundbreaking is slated for April and the 18-month construction period at each school will end in the fall of 2018 in time for the start of school.

In addition, the replacement of the Pawcatuck Middle School roof, which is part of the project, is almost complete.

Peter Manning of Gilbane, who also oversaw the renovation of the high school a decade ago, said plans are for the work to have a minimal disruption on the school day.

Site and preparation work will occur this spring and, once school is out for the summer, the grounds of both schools will close with new construction occurring.

Once that work is completed, students will transition into the new space while renovations are made to existing sections of the school. Near the end of the project, a section of Deans Mill School will be demolished.

Residents learned Tuesday night that the two schools will have new gyms of 6,000 square feet, bigger than the gym at Mystic Middle School. Kindergarten and prekindergarten classrooms at each school will have their own bathrooms, and each school will receive new playground equipment. The tracks at each school will be relocated. The sensory garden at West Vine Street School will be relocated to an area under two mature oak trees to provide some shade.

In the spring of 2018, the cafeterias and kitchens at each school will have to close for renovations so students likely will have to bring bag lunches.

“This small sacrifice that we’re asking teachers and students to make during the construction phase is to get a long-term gain of a new school that will last the next 30 to 50 years,” said building committee Chairman Rob Marseglia.

He added the budget does include money for portable classrooms if there are problems with the phasing plans.

He said the good news is that preliminary cost estimates show that the project will be within budget and include all of the space and program needs outlined in the educational specifications.

“We want to get the shovels in the ground and what we really want to see is Gilbane moving off the property and getting ready for the ribbon cutting,” he said.

j.wojtas@theday.com