
                         THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
                 Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, June 17, 1994                    TAG: 9406160155 
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS                     PAGE: 03    EDITION: FINAL  
SOURCE: BY TONI WHITT, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: 940617                                 LENGTH: PORTSMOUTH

SCHOOL'S COST EXCEEDS ESTIMATE

{LEAD} The latest cost estimates for a new I.C. Norcom High School have risen by more than $2 million and exceed the amount the city's Municipal Finance Commission has said it is willing to spend on a new high school.

City officials got bid estimates for the new, 1,800 student high school after the finance commission recommended that the City Council cap the cost at $25 million.

{REST} The latest cost estimates for the high school came back at $32.6 million. So city staff members played with the numbers and worked at ways to reduce the costs and then presented those options to the City Council on Tuesday.

Richard Hartman, director of public works and engineering, came up with two plans for smaller high schools. The first option is for a $25 million school that will hold a maximum of 1,100 students. The second is for a $30 million high school that would hold a maximum of 1,500 students.

The alternative plans would call for new architectural and engineering studies, which would take another year to complete. That could mean rising construction costs as the project is further delayed, Hartman said.

An upturn in the economy means that construction companies aren't as hungry for work as they once were and are charging more.

Council members looked at the various options on Tuesday and asked several questions concerning the options, but they did not vote on whether change the current plan.

NO FINE ARTS CENTER THIS FALL: City officials and downtown businesses were looking forward to college students crowding the downtown this fall in the new Tidewater Community College Fine Arts Center. But now it looks as if businesses and restaurants are going to have to survive without the students until January.

Asbestos in the former Famous Building is causing delays in renovations, higher costs and a later opening date for the school. The state was to lease the building from the city for Tidewater Community College, but the lease payments will likely be delayed until the January opening.

Renovations to the building are expected to continue through the fall.

City Manager V. Wayne Orton said the new center should open January 1995. City officials hope the students will spend money downtown, but they also hope to attract new businesses such as art supply stores.

by CNB