A scaled back building and renovation project is expected to cost Wilmington school district residents $26 million.

Initially the plans topped $33 million.

At a special meeting Monday night, school board members heard from architects Rob Schafer and Greer Hayden from HHSDR of Sharon.

The two said they believe the faltering economy may help the district. Recent bids for other projects ’overall were 5 to 20 percent lower than we expected,’ they noted.

The renovation includes creating secure entrances at the high school, middle school and administrative office; expanding the band room and moving and expanding the maintenance department; adding storage areas in the band and choral rooms; adding a science wing; a new gym floor and the option to add a weight room; and expanding the high school kitchen and cafeteria to accommodate high school and middle school students.

Plans also include replacing the building’s 50-year-old boiler with hot-water heat, and air-conditioning the building. Paving and additional parking also will be created.

The main change, Schafer said, will involve expanding the high school cafeteria to 6,200 square feet with seating for 350 to 400 students, and building a new kitchen.

The combined cafeteria-gym used by middle school students will be converted to a gym only.

Hayden said food service personnel, teachers and administrators will determine how the renovated cafeteria will be used to move students through quickly. Options range from creating additional serving lines to creating a food court.

The food court concept, he said, will reflect the district’s healthy choices program, not the junk food seen at malls. Hayden said it could include several stations offering everything from the traditional ’type A’ school lunch and include a short order counter, pizza, salad bar and a grab-and-go deli sandwich station.

Hayden also noted the Pennsylvania Department of Education will require the district to conduct an Act 34 ’Taj Mahal’ hearing for the renovation, because the original building ’footprint’ will be increased by more than 20 percent as a result of the expanded science wing and kitchen.

The renovation timetable under consideration includes completing the design by Oct. 16, and opening bids and awarding contracts in April. Under the plan, construction will begin by May 10, and be completed by Nov. 4, 2011.

To reduce disrupting students by construction and delays caused by working around students, board members asked if contracts could require that work be done between 3 p.m. and 7 a.m. when students are not in the building.

The board and architects also briefly discussed financing options, including obtaining low-interest, no-interest or tax-free bonds that might be available to the district. Hayden said he does not believe any Pennsylvania school district will benefit from federal stimulus funding for a construction project.

Steve Singer, the district’s former maintenance director, said he liked the plan proposed, and asked if it was environmentally friendly.