Ryan Erspamer from Architectural Resources presented an update concerning the industrial arts expansion project to the School District 166 school board at their June 19, 2014 meeting. The project is scheduled to have a final design completed on July 1. A pre-bid conference will be held allowing potential contractors to do a walk-through of the space. The project is then anticipated to be put out for bids on July 21 with bids due back by August 6. It will be close to the start of school before construction begins. The process of gathering all the required information set the original schedule back.
Board Chair Jeanne Anderson asked where that will leave the industrial arts student when school starts. Superintendent Beth Schwarz stated, “It’s going to take some creativity,” adding that some use of space in the Arrowhead Center for the Arts, the computer science lab or possibly the garage may be able to be utilized. Some classes, such as some Tech 360 classes, initially use a lot of online computer time prior to needing lab space. Board member Sissy Lunde put forth that rather than moving too fast on the project, “I’d rather have you do it right and do your due diligence.”
The current design intends for a 2,200 square foot addition down from the original plan of an additional 2,500 feet. The original budget of $750,000 for the project included $450,000 for the building itself but lacked any allowance for the remodeling of the existing building. The budget currently stands at $783,000 for construction without including any additional equipment.
At the start of this project the Minnesota Department of Education required a review of any building projects that surpassed $500.000. The department has since increased that threshold to $1.4 million. Had the review been necessary, it would have added several more weeks to the project.
Referring to the increased budget amount, Erspamer quipped, “Beth (Superintendent Schwarz) has assured me that she will find the money!”
Erspamer said the amount received by Architectural Resources is set and will not increase due to the larger project. Schwarz replied, “The money is there. There is a little bit of a gamble there…. We don’t have to get every piece of equipment tomorrow.”
It was further explained that the total budget for the project is now $997,500 plus a ten percent contingency fund of $100,000. This figure would allow for $250,000 to be spent on the purchase of new equipment.
In addition to $750,000 of taconite funding slated for the project there is another $150,000 available from the sale of the west end of the building to the county for the Cook County Community YMCA. As it stands there will still be $100,000 available for equipment. There may also be funds that can be accessed from the health and safety fund for certain improvements. Schwarz added that there are additional grant resources that have not yet been tapped in to. Board member Ed Bolstad relayed experiences of seeing projects that are never fully completed and said, “I think that you have to be cautious that you don’t keep putting it off.”
Erspamer further commented that the current equipment is adequate for high school but some of the college level equipment and the potential for community education involvement will make the expense of new equipment higher. Schwarz pointed out that some of the current equipment that works fine, but that is not completely safe for high school classes, due to things like missing guards, may put up for bid for sale which could be used against the purchase of new equipment. Erspamer said there is a big market for those types of equipment.
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