Whitefish school plans scaled back

After the estimated cost of rebuilding Whitefish High School was projected to come in $1.3 million over budget, the design team has found a way to keep the rebuild within the $19 million budget.

Bayard Dominick, the school district’s consultant for the project, said carving away about $1.5 million worth of the planned amenities and putting them on hold until money becomes available later will allow the rebuild to come in at $135 per square foot. That’s about $14 per square foot less than initial estimates.

Among the alternate amenities put on hold are media and computer science laboratories, new kitchen equipment, reroofing the B Wing, installation of operable/moving walls in the resource room and upgrades in irrigation and windows.

Money may become available either in grants, donations, energy incentives or money realized from base bids that come in lower than cost estimates. Dominick said he’s applying for more than 20 grants.

Costs also have been contained through value engineering by adjusting details such as interior finishes, mechanical, electrical systems and building materials, Dominick.

Whitefish School Superintendent Kate Orozco said students will still have access to technology while money is raised to complete the laboratories.

The district recently implemented a new digital device policy.

The school district has adopted a Bring Your Own Device policy that will provide most students with daily access to technology and computers, Orozco said.

“The BYOD policy is the first step toward delivering on the future expectation that there will be computer devices throughout the school and at a minimum, when the new school opens, there will be laptops available for classrooms to provide technology access to each student without the need to go to a ‘computer’ lab for that access,” she said.

The sale of the Whitefish Independent High School building at 625 Park Ave. will also provide money to pay for some of the additional amenities. The district already has solicited local realty services to market the independent high school building. Proposals will be accepted until Jan. 14.

In September, Glacier Sotheby’s International Realty provided Dominick with a comparable market analysis, estimating the current value for the approximately 36,000-square-foot lot zoned “high-density residential,” and the 8,000-square-foot independent high school building at $459,000.

“It is the intention of the school board to commit any net proceeds from that sale to the high school redevelopment project,” Orozco said. “We are confident that even if we do not include any of the add alternates as part of the completion of the project, the completed school will be an incredible, world-class learning environment and will give our teachers and administrator the tools necessary for teaching in the 21st century.”

WhITEFISH voters approved a $14 million bond for the $19 million project in March, but after that the construction budget started to grow when the district decided to add 2,500 square feet to the base bid. An additional 250 square feet for a training room also was added after the fact.

And there were other unanticipated expenses. Soil testing completed in June revealed additional work was needed to prepare the site — which has high groundwater and clay — for construction. Structural fill also has to be replaced to minimize settling. City code requires 100 more parking spaces in addition to the 283 on initial concept drawings that were part of the bond passage.

Revised cost estimates are expected to be completed in February 2013 when half of the construction documents are completed, Dominick said.

The district is still on track to break ground in April 2013. The first task will be installing new bleachers and a gymnasium floor to meet a June deadline required by a Montana Department of Commerce Quality Schools Grant used to pay for the gym improvements.

Whitefish High School’s graduation ceremony on June 1 will be moved to Majestic Valley Arena because of the anticipated construction.

Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or by email at hmatheson@dailyinterlake.com.