New London — The City Council has approved the start of construction of a new high school track and helped to save the $98 million portion of an upcoming high school construction project.

The estimated $883,647 track project heralds the beginning of the long-delayed north campus portion of a two-phase, $150 million school construction project first approved by voters at referendum in 2014. Eventual completion of the project will complete the school system’s conversion into what school officials say is the state’s first all-magnet public school district.

The city was facing a July 6 deadline to start the high school, or north campus, project or face the possibility of forfeiting the entire $98 million state grant.

“This is a big deal,” said Diana McNeil, a senior project manager for the Capitol Region Education Council, or CREC, which is overseeing the north campus project.

The city already had received a one-year extension to the construction start date and scrambled last December when the state Department of Education asked the district to restructure its operations plan.

While the track project represents the shovel in the ground needed to meet the state deadline, school renovations and construction now are unlikely to start until at least 2020.

The City Council on Monday unanimously approved hiring of Newfield + Downes as construction manager for the project. McNeil said track work is expected to be completed by mid-August and in time for the start of sports practices.

School board President Mirna Martinez called the start of the work “fantastic” and a tangible part of a project approved by the voters that benefits the entire community.

While the construction projects at New London High School and Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, or south campus, will be funded at 80 percent by the state, most of the track project is reimbursed at 40 percent. The city’s portion of the track project will be about $530,188, documents provided by CREC show.

Councilor John Satti, chairman of the School Building and Maintenance Committee, said an alternate plan to repair and resurface the track was cheaper but would cost the city more money since the state Department of Administrative Services considers the repairs ineligible for funding.

The operations plan for the new school, which will dictate the final design, has yet to be approved by the state Department of Education. The final design needs DAS approval.

Magnet school plans have changed several times through the years but the latest iteration includes STEM, arts and international studies programs being offered to students in New London and outside the district. Bennie Dover would host sixth through eighth grades for the STEM and international studies magnet schools, while arts magnet programs for students in grades six through 12 would be housed at the high school campus.

Earlier plans for the arts magnet school would have included classrooms at the Garde Arts Center downtown.

The city also has yet to hire a project manager, or owner’s representative, for the $48 million south campus project.

Satti said a subcommittee of the School Building and Maintenance Committee will choose from four applicants for the job. CREC is not among the applicants but promises continuity to help move the project along.

“CREC is more than willing to work with whoever the committee chooses,” McNeil said. “We will infuse them with information and ensure they do outstanding work on behalf of the city. They need to hit the ground running.”

The next deadline for the city will be October 2019, when the state expects a shovel in the ground for the south campus project.

g.smith@theday.com