Board approves $74.96 million amendment for new Woodland Junior High, bringing GMP to $99.65 million

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The Fayetteville School Board voted unanimously to approve a $74,963,679 contract amendment for the new Woodland Junior High School, completing the guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for the project at $99,650,513.

Kelly Freeman, senior project director for Connect Advisors, presented the amendment on behalf of Nabholz Construction and described a substantial value-engineering process after the initial market estimate. "Tonight, we're asking the board for approval for contract amendment number 8 in the amount of $74,963,679," Freeman told the board. She said the team identified 50 candidate scope reductions and worked with district staff and the design team to price 34 accepted items; none of the accepted changes reduced the project’s sustainability certifications or core programming, she said.

Freeman said previous amendments (1 through 7) totaled $24,686,834, and that the combined amendments bring the GMP to $99,650,513. She said the project’s market price on initial solicitation was about $106.8 million before value engineering.

Ben Baldwin, project executive for Nabholz, described technical items that remain in delegated design for cross-laminated timber (CLT) construction and explained that some exterior finish allowances and moisture-mitigation approaches were priced as allowances or alternative methods in the GMP.

District staff and board members discussed higher per-square-foot costs driven in part by sustainability features and market increases since initial estimates. Doctor Williams and others emphasized that earlier approvals of precursory site work kept the project on schedule; the board was told that the district’s bond capacity remains sufficient to fund the approved GMP.

After discussion, board member Nica Weitzman moved to approve contract amendment No. 8; the motion was seconded and passed by the board on a 6–0 recorded vote.