Fayetteville High School Renovation Within Budget And On Target For Completion Next Year

FAYETTEVILLE -- Fayetteville High School's renovation is projected to finished by August and within budget, the School Board heard Thursday.

"There is more than enough to finish the project," said Kathy Hanlon, the district's chief financial officer, told the board.

The project may finish with nearly $3 million left over although that could be spent on unanticipated expenses, she said.

There is about $18.5 million left in project fund and about $15.4 million in projected to finish the building, Hanlon told the board in presenting a detailed report on the construction costs and costs for furniture, technology, fees, certification Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and other expenses, such as small equipment items.

"This is excellent news," said Susan Heil, a board member.

Hanlon joined the district in August and spent the last few weeks meeting with David Tate, director of school plant services, and other district staff to get a handle on the cost of the project at the request of the School Board and in response to rumors that circulated during the recent School Board campaign the district didn't have enough money left to finish the project.

Construction started in 2010 with the demolition of Bates Elementary School. The first phase included building a new entrance on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, flanked by new buildings housing an arena, a Performing Arts Center, cafeteria and spaces for drama, band, choir, orchestra and athletic activities. Those areas opened in 2012.

The Bulldog gymnasium and library were razed to make way for the new classroom building on the northwest section of the campus. That building opened in August 2013. The original high school was remodeled into more classrooms and study areas and opened in August.

The final phase is being built and is scheduled to open in August at which time freshmen, now at the junior high schools, will be moved to the high school. Plans are taking shape for that move along with realigning elementary, middle and junior high schools, said Kim Garrett, associate superintendent for secondary education.

The elementary schools will become kindergarten through fourth grade; middle schools, fifth and sixth grades; and junior high schools, seventh and eighth grades.

Hanlon said more than $600,000 was deleted from the original plans in a process. Among those items were window shades, a green roof, one bookshelf and three marker boards from classrooms, she said.

About $1.1 million in change orders have been included in the project, half of which was for rock excavation when construction crews found more underground rock than anticipated.

The change orders amount to about 1 percent of the project, which Hanlon described as extremely low. She usually has budgeted for change orders ranging from 5 percent to 10 percent in other projects she has dealt with in the Rogers School District where she formerly worked.

The guaranteed maximum price for construction is $83.3 million, of which just more than $12 million remains to be paid to the construction manager, Nabholz Construction Services.