Julie E. Greene
The Washington County Board of Education on Tuesday night awarded contracts for the construction of a new “West City” elementary school and the renovation of a Frederick Street building in Hagerstown to serve as a public service academy.
The seven-member council voted unanimously to hire Waynesboro Construction of Frederick, Md., for $16.3 million to serve as the general contractor for the construction of the elementary school to be built in the Hager’s Crossing subdivision. behind Walmart in the West End of Hagerstown.
Waynesboro Construction’s bid of $16,323,200 was the lowest of five bids, coming in at $276,800 under the estimated budget for the project, according to school system documents.
The next lowest bid was $16,412,700, or $89,500 more, from Warner Construction of Frederick, Md., the documents show.
The board also voted unanimously to approve its consent package, which included awarding the renovation of 701 Frederick St. to bidder Callas Contractors of the Hagerstown area, which had a bid of $291,700, or 20 $300 under budget, according to the docs.
Five companies bid on the Frederick Street project, with the next lowest bid being $317,545 from Rockwell Construction, of Mercersburg, Pennsylvania, documents show.
The Frederick Street building housed the Facilities Planning and Maintenance Departments until earlier this school year, when they moved to the school system’s new administrative office complex along Downsville Pike outside from the city.
The work requires the selective demolition and renovation of approximately 16,000 square feet in the building to create four classrooms, a multi-purpose hall, catering capabilities, offices, space for conference and small group instruction, storage and a toilet, according to documents.
The renovations are to be completed by December 12, according to the documents.
Students from the Fire and Rescue Academy now in a portable classroom at South Hagerstown High School and the Criminal Justice Program at Washington County Technical High School are expected to take these classes at the renovated facilities of Frederick Street starting in the spring semester, Deputy Superintendent of Schools Boyd said Michel.
Fire and rescue students are expected to continue to take their academic courses at their home schools during this school year, while criminal justice students will take their academic courses at technical high school, he said.
Other student programs that may be located in the Frederick Street building have not yet been determined, school system spokesman Richard Wright said.
Entrepreneur interviewed
Waynesboro Construction will serve as the general contractor for the elementary school project and will hire subcontractors to perform specific work. As a result, the council did not vote on contracts for specific works such as electrical and mechanical systems and masonry work.
The company was the contractor for the renovations and additions that created the Barbara Ingram School for the Arts in downtown Hagerstown, as well as site work for the new Bester Elementary School, according to an email from Rob Rollins , Director of School System Facilities. planning and development.
Board member Wayne Ridenour said the school system had problems about five years ago with Waynesboro Construction and asked facility managers what school system work the company had done since then that ” would convince you to save $50,000, $80,000… I just have one concern, that’s all.”
Michael said the company recently worked on Bester Elementary.
“We had no reason to deny Waynesboro the opportunity to bid,” Michael said.
After the meeting, Ridenour said he couldn’t remember all the details about the issues with the construction company on the Ingram project, but they weren’t major and were eventually resolved. He said he thought some things hadn’t been done according to the schedule set out by school officials.
New school work
The new elementary school is scheduled to open in August 2016, following the planned closure of Winter Street and Conococheague Elementary Schools after the 2015-2016 school year.
A committee of volunteers studied redistricting options to coincide with the opening of the new elementary school. Students who live in closed school districts will not necessarily be redistributed to be within the boundaries of the new school.
The new school, at 12615 Sedgwick Way, will be 65,433 square feet with a two-storey classroom wing. The school will have three classrooms per grade for kindergarten through fifth grade, plus two pre-kindergarten classes, according to documents.
Rollins said work on the site of the new primary school is expected to begin in October or November after erosion control devices such as silt fences are put in place.
Board Chairman Justin Hartings said the board will discuss a nomination process for the new elementary school at its Oct. 7 meeting.
Comments are closed.