Architect picked for new school
|
“Upland made good presentations. They’ve built schools in DeKalb and White counties and, based on what I’ve heard, everything sounds good,” said school board chairman Larry Judkins, who also serves as chairman of the board’s Building, Grounds and Insurance Committee.
Before being chosen during a specially called meeting Thursday night, Upland principal architect Derrick Clemow presented the board with a “guesstimated” project cost of $6.4 million to build the new school, but warned the figure presents a very preliminary scope of work and will require refinement as the project becomes more defined.
“That figure is more preliminary than the word preliminary will allow,” he said. “At this point all numbers are premature.”
Currently, he said, there are too many unknown factors, including the site of the school, cost of land, school design and building materials, to make an educated cost assessment, but that his firm did so nonetheless using its experience with similar school projects it has completed in past years.
In choosing an architect, the school board has fulfilled one of the requirements given to it by the county commission in August, when commission members voted to support the financing of a new school in the Centertown community. The commission is also requiring the school board to procure and finance an option on a building site and perform geotechnical tests and evaluations on that site.
It was noted during Thursday’s school board meeting that the board’s site selection committee currently has six potential sites selected and is in the process of talking to property owners.
Clemow, who was in the Centertown area Friday, said he and his firm have already begun work in preparation of the commission’s Nov. 15 deadline to have presented to it rendered conceptual drawings, scope of work, and estimated costs.
“We’ve begun evaluation of potential sites and will soon be determining a good design solution that respects the needs and wants of the community and school staff,” he said.
Before adjourning, the school board further voted to allow its legal counsel, Galligan and Newman, to review any contract to be signed with Upland Design Group in an effort to protect the school system from hidden costs, penalties and the like.