The Springfield Board of Education last month approved a package of bids that will kick off construction for $220 million worth of projects approved by voters in April.
The actions represent the first of many to come, as the district prepares for several years of building projects that include three major projects worth more than $50 million each.
While those bigger projects loom, the first wave of work approved by voters in April will be seen in those shelters.
Travis Shaw, deputy superintendent of operations, said the work is part of a larger effort to eliminate “cafegymatoriums” — larger spaces that are used for meals, PE classes and programs, but are not efficient for any of those purposes anymore. Shaw said that new building codes require storm shelter gyms for new buildings or major renovations, as well.
“They are small, and not really adequate for PE or assemblies at all,” Shaw said.
When completed, the district will increase the number of its schools with community storm shelters to 23. Like their cafegymatorium counterparts, the larger storm shelter gymnasiums also accommodate multiple uses. They are built to handle PE and music classes, as well as special events. And they are built to withstand severe thunderstorms and tornadoes, giving protection for students, staff and community members.
Construction bids accepted for storm shelters
The board during its June 27 meeting accepted construction bids for four of the six storm shelter gymnasiums detailed in the bond package, as well as a total of $504,952.21 in change orders and agreements. Those agreements include $387,243,20 to install security windows on first-floor windows of the district’s five high schools.
Among the storm shelter bids:
- DeWitt Construction was awarded bids for Mann Elementary with a contract worth $5,224,000 and Wilder Elementary with a contract worth $5,474,000.
- Crossland Construction was awarded Watkins Elementary with a contract worth $4,394,000.
- BP Builders was awarded Pittman Elementary with a contract worth $4,098,855.
Construction on each of those gymnasiums is expected to start this fall.
During the meeting, board members expressed concerns over how the Mann and Wilder bids came in higher than expected, above projected costs of $4,950,000 each. The bids for Watkins and Pittman came in under projected costs of $5,105,000 each.
Shaw said during the meeting that costs may adjust themselves as construction advances, but a special fund of more than $19 million within the $220 million project approved by voters is intended exactly for those types of overages. He also said some overages will be balanced by other projects that come in under budget.
“In the bond language voters approved, not only did we have the list of projects, but we put in a cost variance specific to inflation and the labor shortage,” Shaw said. “We expected some of this.”
Board members approved the bids and the change orders with 7-0 votes.
Shaw said the district is working on designing the other two storm shelter projects in the bond, intended for Cowden and Holland elementaries. Bidding is hoped to open in late fall.
City staff oppose district's preferred location for Pipkin
Two of the looming large projects in the Proposition S package deal with new buildings for Pipkin Middle School and Reed Academy.
A new Reed Academy will be built at its current location, 2000 N. Lyon Ave. It carries an estimated cost of $59,480,000. Shaw said board members will review refined design and development renderings, as well as updated cost estimates, for both projects during its Aug. 22 meeting.
The district has purchased an almost 21-acre property at 3207 E. Pythian St. in northeast Springfield for Pipkin, a project with an estimated cost of $53,080,000. It would replace the current building at 1215 N. Boonville Ave., north of the government plaza downtown.
On July 13, the district's request to acquire the property for Pipkin will come before the Springfield Planning and Zoning Commission. The property is straddled by U.S. Highway 65 to the east and railroad tracks to the west, and is currently only accessible by Pythian from the west. Forward SGF, the city's comprehensive plan, identifies the property as of the Business Flex place type.
City staff recommends denial of the request, insisting that it is not consistent with the recommendation of Forward SGF, in multiple respects.
The Hauxeda first reported the city's anticipated, and eventually finalized, recommendation of denial in early June.
At the time, SPS spokesperson Stephen Hall told the Daily Citizen that state statute grants the district, not the City Council, final say in placement of the facility, and his comments were reflected in the city's staff report.
“…if the proposal is by an agency other than an agency of the city and the
authorization or financing does not fall within the province of the city council, then the submission to the planning commission shall be by the agency having jurisdiction, and the planning commission's disapproval may be overruled by that agency by a vote of not less than two-thirds of its entire membership,” the staff report reads.
Hall noted previously that the purchase of the property was unanimously approved by the school board. One board seat has changed since that vote occurred.
While the Pythian address is zoned for heavy manufacturing, Springfield’s ordinances allow schools to be built in such zones.
The district’s job now is to address concerns over the selection, Shaw said, and point out all its advantages over the Boonville site — or any other property appropriate for a school.
Shaw said the property addresses traffic concerns and increases the amount of students eligible for busing. With the room it offers, it can produce a school complex similar to what Jarrett Middle School now has.
“Right now, all the pickup for students is on the street. No separate bus lanes, not enough adequate parking, and there is not even adequate external space for extracurriculars,” Shaw said. “The property allows a building to be designed appropriately, so that it’s safe for kids.”
Pershing down the road to be
The bond election’s other big project is a projected $50,420,000 renovation and reconstruction of Pershing School, located at 2120 S. Ventura Ave.
Shaw said work on this project won’t begin until Pipkin and Reed are well under way. The results of a school boundary study, currently in progress, will help inform design choices for the school that currently houses elementary- and middle-school students. That survey is due by the end of summer.
“We feel like that boundary study will give us some recommendation and guidance for what the scope of that work will look like,” Shaw said. “Does it stay a K-8, or a middle school only, that kind of thing.”
Local Government Reporter Jack McGee contributed to this report.
