THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 17, 1995 TAG: 9511170190
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: ELIZABETH CITY LENGTH: Medium: 68 lines
Elizabeth City-Pasquotank's second middle school may be built for almost $1 million less than projected.
The low bids for construction, plumbing, heating, electrical and communications came in at a combined $8.7 million, Superintendent Joe Peel said Thursday.
About $9.6 million had been budgeted for construction of River Road Middle School.
The school will be the cornerstone of an ambitious $21.6 million construction and renovation plan to reduce overcrowding that has plagued much of the system in recent years.
Taken together, the projects represent the most significant capital undertaking by the school system since early this century.
School officials breathed a collective sigh of relief when the middle school bids came in lower than expected. While architects and School Board members scored incoming bids in the crowded central office board room, Peel flashed a thumbs-up sign to one late arrival.
``We feel real good about it,'' Peel said after most contractors had cleared the room and officials had tallied the results. ``We had a lot of bidders and a lot of interest in the project.''
But the schools still need more information before they have a full picture of how much the projects will cost.
``This is just one piece of the puzzle,'' said School-Community Relations Director Charles White. ``We've got three more sets of bids to open on Tuesday.''
Contractors next week will bid on a new bus garage and renovations at Pasquotank and J.C. Sawyer elementaries. Filling in the puzzle are bids received earlier for classroom additions at Central and Northside elementaries.
After architects spend a night crunching numbers, the School Board will meet with Pasquotank County Commissioners Wednesday morning to chart a course for the projects.
The middle school bids gave the system a reason for optimism. White had said earlier Thursday that the cost of the middle school project would help set the financial tone.
``This is the biggie,'' he said before the bids were opened. ``We're definitely holding our breaths.''
The system hopes to have the River Road Middle School built and ready to open for the 1997-98 school year, White said.
The bus garage should be completed by next summer, and the four elementaries are targeted for the beginning or middle of the next school year.
``Our real hope is that we can issue the order to start work to the contractors, say, within the next 30 days or so,'' White said. ``We're looking at some pretty tight timetables as far as construction.''
Nearly a year ago Boney Architects of Wilmington presented the School Board and County Commissioners with an assessment of crowding problems in the district's 10 schools, and a recommendation of how to solve them.
After voters expressed support during a public hearing in January for new construction, the two boards agreed to borrow $25 million to build a new middle school and expand several elementaries.
``This is a very progressive statement toward education in this area that everyone in this county should be proud of,'' Paul Boney of Boney Architects said Thursday. by CNB