ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, June 26, 1996 TAG: 9606260061
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
OFFICIALS WILL WAIT a month for Roanoke County supervisors to vote on $1.2million for work at Fort Lewis Elementary School.
Renovation of Fort Lewis Elementary School will be delayed at least one month while Roanoke County school officials wait to see if they will get an additional $1.2million to pay for the project.
School officials had planned to ask the Board of Supervisors for the money Tuesday, but they were asked to seek a 30-day extension of the bid until the supervisors vote on the request for money. The supervisors will wait until next month to consider it when all members will be present.
Homer Duff, director of facilities and operations for schools, said the low bidder has agreed to extend the bid.
The Fort Lewis project was estimated to cost $1.3million, but the bid was nearly $2million. Kitchen equipment, furnishings and other items have pushed the cost to nearly $2.5million.
Architects estimate that half of the cost increase is the result of inflation since the original estimate was made several years ago. The rest was caused by a change in the scope of the project.
School officials had hoped to begin construction on Fort Lewis this month, but they can't award a contract until they are assured of the additional money.
Meanwhile, Duff said work can begin on a 22-room expansion at William Byrd High School even though the supervisors have not acted on a request for an additional $455,000 for the project.
The William Byrd expansion had been projected at $3.3million, but it will cost nearly $3.8 million, based on the low bid and needed equipment.
Unlike Fort Lewis, the William Byrd project can be divided into separate items, so work can proceed before the supervisors act on the funding request, Duff said.
The Fort Lewis and William Byrd projects were planned before the recent defeat of a $37.4million school bond issue for a new Cave Spring High School and several other projects. Neither project was included in the bond issue, because the county had obtained state Literary Fund loans to help pay for them.
The School Board has also asked the supervisors for an additional $500,000 to help pay for the installation of air conditioning and an upgrade of the electrical system at Cave Spring Junior High.
Last month, the supervisors voted to provide $2.5million for the Cave Spring project, but Duff said an additional $500,000 is needed because of changes in the building code since the original estimate and because of other revisions in the plans.
Work on the Cave Spring project is expected to begin this fall after architects finish revisions in the plans and bids are taken.
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