The Board of Education for District 205 met and approved several bid packages Monday night for the renovation work at Galesburg High School, which will be the district’s 7-12 learning center.
The largest package was for Phase Three construction, the interior building of the Performance Arts Center, which is over budget by about $600,000.
Lee Marbach with Russell Construction says that volatility in the structural steel and wood market is the reason for the unexpected increase in costs. Additionally, he said the current state of the economy plays a factor in it too.
“The other thing that’s affected our bids is the economy is starting to come back and contractors are filling up work-wise. So, we’re not getting as competitive numbers as we did,” Marbach told board members. “Overall, we are over budget on this phase of our estimate but on the overall ‘grand scheme of things’ we are underneath the overall projected project budget.”
The Phase Three bid package comes to under $11.9M. Board members also approved the furniture bid of around $1.2M for the 7-12 complex.
Assistant Superintendent for Finance and Operations Jennifer Hamm told board members that this bid was all-encompassing, and took into account the student influx from Churchill, once that business was closed.
“We’re estimating that the first week in January the remainder of the furniture for the 10-12 addition will arrive and be placed in there. So, there is a phasing but it is all included in this bid. I think someone had a really good question from the board, ‘will we have to purchase additional furniture when the 7-8 students move over when Churchill closes the following year?’ This includes all the furniture for the 7-12 Complex.”
Board members also approved a change order for what is dubbed ‘Area J.’
This change order was an unexpected addition to the renovation plans as the district was able to save money throughout the project. The approval allows for three new classrooms on top of several other renovations.
Additionally, the purchase of a new electronic marquee sign was approved. The sign that will sit out front of the learning center. The cost for the sign is coming from a fund that individuals had donated too and funds were raised to help replace the marquee.
