At a July 18 Joint Board of Review meeting, Akron Public Schools staff and City of Akron officials discussed a roughly $13 million increase to the Kenmore site project to consolidate Miller South and Piper and considered directing leftover Local Funds Initiative (LFI) dollars to cover the gap.

The discussion matters because the district now estimates a larger building and higher per-square-foot costs than originally budgeted; the joint body must recommend any agreement changes before both legislative bodies vote. Without new action, the added costs would have to be absorbed through other district or city funding decisions.

Ms. Volk, an Akron Public Schools staff member who presented the update, said the original building budget for the Kenmore project was $54,000,000 (after abatement, demolition and design costs were deducted from an initial $63,000,000 allocation) and was sized originally on 2023 estimates. She said the planned building footprint increased to 169,764 square feet and that C.T. Taylor, the district’s construction manager at risk, returned a construction estimate of $67,000,000. "That's where you get the $13,000,000 that you have heard about in additional cost," Ms. Volk said.

The district has identified funding sources that already are committed: roughly $40,000,000 financed through certificates of participation (COPs) sold in December, and $15,000,000 in district funds that have been described as general fund (previously labeled ESSER in planning documents). Ms. Volk said $2,000,000 was set aside for demolition of the vacated Piper and Miller South buildings. She said final value-engineering work is under way to reduce scope (for example, scaling an auditorium mezzanine and other amenities) and could bring the total below $67,000,000 if savings are realized.

Mayor Malek said the gap "seems like a gap that could be covered by the LFI funds," contingent on the arbitrage calculation and any penalties. Director Fricker, the city’s finance representative on the joint body, reported that the arbitrage rebate calculations were delivered through February 2020 in a report dated Dec. 7 and that additional financial information supplied by the schools will require more work; he said the firm doing the calculations expects to complete the final arbitrage figures for 2021 through the present in late August or early September.

Neither the board nor the city approved an amendment or a funding transfer at the July 18 meeting. Law director comments at the meeting clarified that the cooperative agreement will need to be amended both to remove references to state contributions (the state will not contribute to the upcoming projects) and to add the Kenmore project as a new designated project eligible for LFI funds. Any amendment would require approval by each legislative body within 90 days of one another; participants said the joint body should reconvene after the arbitrage numbers are complete and a draft amendment is prepared.

Architect Dana Mitchell of Prime AE, who attended with district staff, described value-engineering tradeoffs for the auditorium seating. "The least expensive way to add seats is to add them in a mezzanine," Mitchell said. He said constructing a mezzanine to add about 250 seats would cost roughly $750,000–$800,000, while adding those seats on the main floor instead would add about $1.2 million.

Presenters also discussed nonconstruction details that affect cost and operations: the district moved the planned building footprint to the west side of the Kenmore property because a large sewer line under the original footprint made east-side construction more likely to produce cost overruns; the district plans parking capacity that includes roughly 80 parking spaces at one level and about 100 at an upper level, plus use of surrounding on- and off-street parking for large events; and the planned opening date cited by the district is August 2028.

Officials emphasized limits and conditions. Mayor Malek said the city is willing to use LFI funds to cover the financing gap up to whatever balance remains after the arbitrage calculation, but he said any cost overruns beyond the available LFI balance would need to come from Akron Public Schools’ general operating funds. Dr. Thompson (district staff) suggested adding language to the amendment that would allow unspent LFI balances to revert to the North project or other designated uses, but no decision was made.

The joint body agreed that a third meeting should be scheduled after the final arbitrage calculations are available and a draft amendment is prepared so the joint body can recommend an amendment to both legislative bodies.

Funding and project figures discussed at the meeting: original total budget discussed $63,000,000; demolition set-aside $2,000,000; original building budget $54,000,000; revised building estimate $67,000,000; revised square footage 169,764; cost per square foot rose from about $346 to about $400 in the district’s estimate. The arbitrage report covered through Feb. 2020 (report dated Dec. 7); the firm expects final calculations for 2021–present by late August or early September. The district said the state (OFCC) does not co-fund auditoriums and that state contributions will not be part of upcoming project funding.

No formal vote or amendment was taken at the July 18 meeting on redirecting LFI funds. The joint body recorded next steps: finish arbitrage calculations, finalize value-engineering options, produce a draft amendment to the cooperative agreement, and reconvene to make a recommendation to the two legislative bodies.