ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, November 7, 1996 TAG: 9611070026
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV1 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG
SOURCE: LISA APPLEGATE STAFF WRITER
Construction bids for the proposed elementary school in Riner have come in $2 million higher than expected, adding yet another glitch in an project riddled with complications.
Construction of the new school - originally scheduled to begin later this month - might be put on hold as school administrators scramble to find cost-cutting options.
In the end, though, the Montgomery County School Board likely will have to go back to the Board of Supervisors to ask for additional funding, according to board discussions Tuesday. That's something no member relishes, particularly because the School Board is trying to gain financial approval for three other school building projects in the county.
The new school would eliminate overcrowding in existing Riner and Bethel elementary schools by combining the pupils into one, 750-pupil school.
School administrators had originally estimated construction costs at about $6.5 million for a 75,000-square-foot school. That breaks down to about $90 per square foot; the lowest actual construction bid came in at $106 per square foot.
Why the difference?
First, the school was designed to house at least 78,000 square feet. Philip Pappas, vice president for the architecture firm Mills, Oliver and Webb Inc., said 3,000 square feet were added after recommendations from a teacher/parent committee were included in the design.
If the school has a larger gym, as many residents of the Riner and Bethel communities have requested, that would add 2,000 square feet.
The increased costs are common in schools these days, Pappas said. School construction costs across the state have risen 31 percent since 1993, mostly because of new requirements such as computer wiring and additional office space for guidance counselors and others.
Another problem is the site itself. Pappas said there is more work to be done on this site than on the recently built Falling Branch and Kipps elementary schools combined. Unlike those construction projects, the new Riner school will require $500,000 in paving and grading costs alone.
Pappas said his firm already is working with Branch & Associates, the construction company in Roanoke that sent the lowest bid, to find ways to lower costs. The roof, for example, could be made out of shingles rather than metal.
"I don't want to be a penny-wise and a pound-foolish," said Chairwoman Annette Perkins. "What we put into the school is what we felt we needed. I would not personally make a compromise that might jeopardize the building."
That might be a moot point, because Pappas said there was no way to cut the full $2 million unless the entire design is modified.
Some School Board members proposed asking the Board of Supervisors for the full amount needed.
But, said Wat Hopkins, "one of the questions that will be asked by the supervisors is 'Have you looked at all the possible ways to reduce costs?'"
The School Board has about six weeks until the present bid prices expire. In two weeks, Pappas will tell the board of any cost-saving options, and the board will decide to go from there.
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