24.34 Ben Bolt Elementary School Classroom Addition in Alice, TX

The Ben Bolt - Palito Blanco Elementary School in Alice is undergoing a significant expansion with the addition of 8,134 sq ft of new classroom space. This project, filed as the 24.34 Ben Bolt Elementary School Classroom Addition, is an addition to an existing building located at 401 Whitney Dr. in Jim Wells County. The estimated cost for this construction is $3,800,000, which works out to $467 per square foot.

Gignac & Associates, LLP serves as the design firm of record for this development. The registered accessibility specialist for the project is Jose Ricardo Guerrero. The owner of record is Ben Bolt-Palito Blanco. The project involves public funds, public land, or is a Federally funded roadway project, indicating significant institutional support for the educational infrastructure in the area.

Construction Timeline and Status

TDLR completed the plan review process in May 2025. Construction was scheduled to begin in July 2025, with a planned completion date of March 2026. However, the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation has not yet recorded a final inspection for this site. Consequently, the current physical state of the site is not confirmed in the public record, and the project's completion status remains unverified in official filings.

In the context of Jim Wells County, this project is larger and more expensive than the median for similar additions to existing buildings. The median estimated cost for such projects in the county is $450,000, with a median size of 6,847 sq ft. This project's cost is in the top quarter of county filings, and its scheduled build window of 273 days is longer than the county median of 183 days.

Gignac & Associates, LLP has been involved in six other TDLR-registered projects totaling $30,100,000. These include the Oilton Elementary School in Oilton, valued at $13,000,000, and the Agua Dulce ISD Elementary School project in Agua Dulce, valued at $8,000,000. The firm also designed the Webb CISD Baseball and Softball Fields, which has completed inspection. This indicates a consistent pattern of large-scale educational and athletic facility development by the design firm across the region.

The area profile for ZIP 78342, where the school is located, shows a population of about 338 people according to U.S. Census ACS 2023 five-year estimates. The median household income is $42,014, and there are 138 housing units, mostly owner-occupied. The Jim Wells County unemployment rate was 5.7 percent in August 2026, which is lower than a year earlier.