Area school projects running over budget

Several school districts have construction projects underway this summer, and most are facing the same problem they were last year at this time: It’s going to cost more.

Because of a shortage of skilled laborers and a rise in the cost of building materials over time, Spokane Public Schools will pay $2.4 million more than expected for the remodel of Shadle Park High School. The $70 million renovation began last month.

“We put in an estimate of what the increases would be, and they’ve far exceeded that,” said Mark Anderson, associate superintendent for school support services.

The Mead School District estimated last year that construction of a new elementary school, which is nearing completion on the Five Mile Prairie, would be 45 percent over budget. The new Mead Middle School, also under construction, is about 40 percent over the expected cost, district officials said.

“There are still some inflationary pressures in the market place,” said John Dormaier, Mead’s director of facilities and planning. “Maybe not to the same degree that we experienced last year, but things are not going back downhill, they are continuing to escalate.”

Officials with both districts say some smaller projects aren’t likely to be completed, such as improvement to fitness centers, playground projects, and heating and ventilation work at some schools. Both districts are using voter-approved construction bonds to pay for the capital projects.

“We haven’t addressed our smaller projects in terms of a final solution or a game plan,” Dormaier said. “We’ve been concentrating on moving the two major school projects ahead and on schedule.”

Summer tends to be the time when school construction kicks into high gear as contractors work to finish projects for the upcoming school year.

Mead’s new Prairie View Elementary School, located on Johannsen Road, will open this fall. The district’s new middle school being built near Highway 2 and Day-Mt. Spokane Road will be completed in fall 2008.

In Spokane, the new gymnasium and commons area is beginning to take shape among the cranes and ladders at Rogers High School in northeast Spokane. The school is undergoing a $59 million facelift. Last summer officials said the project would cost $7 million more than budgeted.

At that time officials said Shadle Park, which, like Rogers, will be completed in several phases, would cost about $10 million more than expected.

The school board last month approved a guaranteed maximum price of $55.5 million for construction at Shadle, which doesn’t include architect’s fees, permits and other costs. The total project will be about $70 million.

“The rest of the story will happen in late August when we actually do the bids,” Anderson said.

Because Spokane is using the general contractor as the construction manager, the district was able to set a maximum price for construction before opening the bidding for the actual work to subcontractors, officials said. Garco Construction, the contractor for both Shadle and Rogers remodels, also worked with NAC Architecture during the design phase.

“It’s been very collaborative, since the contractor is brought on board early in the design,” said John Mannix, executive director of facilities and planning.

Typically, schools hire an architect to design the building, then open the project and select a contractor to build it based on the lowest bid.

Using the contractor as the construction manager helps keeps costs down, because very few costly changes are made throughout construction, Mannix said.

When the Rogers project was open to subcontractors last year, bids came in a little lower, although the overall price was more.

“We’re hoping that pattern continues with Shadle, that the maximum price had a little worst-case scenario built into it,” Anderson said.