College receives $9.9 million in bond dollars

Flathead Valley Community College President Jane Karas said the college received $9.9 million Wednesday to begin its long-awaited expansion of the Kalispell campus.

The funds were deposited and the bonds issued as the final step in the sale held in February. College officials expect to hold a second sale at a later date for the remainder of the $15.8 million approved by voters in Dec. 2002.

"We hope to go to bid in late summer or early fall," Karas said.

She said the first work will address infrastructure like a road needed to access one of the new buildings.

But before architects can produce final plans, Karas and other college officials must still find $2 million in cost savings from the plan as initially envisioned .

"We're trying to make up for two-and-a-half years of lost time," Karas said.

She was referring to election challenges which began 60 days after the election. Karas said all design work had been halted until the Montana Supreme Court dismissed the last challenge in January.

Prior to the litigation, the campus expansion and upgrades were due for completion in January of this year.

With updated estimates, Architects Northwest and Rozenboom-Miller Associates determined construction as originally planned would cost about $5 million more than the approved bond amount.

According to Karas, about $2 million to $3 million of the overage was due to inflation in construction materials and labor costs.

"We think we have narrowed it down to $2 million," Karas said.

Part of the savings achieved so far came from eliminating angles from buildings and eliminating a courtyard. Other savings came from searching for the most cost-effective materials.

Another reduction resulted from the college building a parking lot out of other funds for maintenance.

"It (the plan) was pretty conservative to begin with - it was all really tightly designed," Karas said.

She said the challenge has been to make cost-cutting changes that don't impact the quality of instruction for the students. Although some space was included for future expansion, growth since 2002 leaves little excess.

"The future is here," Karas said.

The president has placed a priority on preserving classroom space, looking instead at eliminating air conditioning and delaying landscaping and acquiring some equipment and furniture more slowly.

She said that college officials are also looking for other sources of revenue while working to make the plans as cost-efficient as possible.

Karas hopes to avoid dropping any of the facilities planned. Items included in plans presented to the public prior to the bond election included:

. Renovation work including technology wiring, air conditioning, parking, and adding shipping and receiving space.

. New classroom space.

. Academic and occupational labs for sciences, health programs, the arts, occupational trades, and high tech careers.

. An instructional theater and high tech lecture hall.

. Community room for events, meetings and customized training sessions.

. Expanded student study and resource areas.

. Early childhood development center for daycare and training child care workers.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com