Haddonfield referendum team revises plans after bids, reduces middle school auditorium seating to 502

Project managers updated the Haddonfield School District Board of Education on the bond referendum’s progress and told the board that design revisions and bid results have forced scope and schedule changes, including a reduction in planned auditorium seating and reprioritization of summer work.

At a presentation led by Jeff Potter, project manager and architect for the referendum program, and supplemented by Colliers construction manager Rich Brown, the team described awards, bid results, and next steps for the referendum projects that the district approved in December. Potter said some bids for interior alterations came in over budget, so the team split and repriced packages to secure the most critical work — Haddon Elementary’s full‑day kindergarten spaces — for summer construction.

The update focused on nine major project clusters: interior alterations at multiple schools, a high‑school–level auditorium renovation, gym floor abatement and replacement, stadium ADA upgrades, the 1890s building alterations, relocation and restoration of the Maggie House and Carriage House, second‑floor additions at Tatum and Haddon elementary schools, and window replacements in the high school A and C wings.

“Bids were a little high, over budget,” Potter said, so the team reconfigured contract packages and intends to value‑engineer or delay lower‑priority portions. He said the team intentionally awarded the most critical packages first so that work needed for full‑day kindergarten is in place before the school year starts.

The Middle School (HMS) auditorium design was singled out for detailed explanation. Potter said more precise surveying and a third‑party seating consultant (Longo Associates) showed the originally sketched layout was infeasible and the room is slightly shorter than earlier plans assumed. The result: the maximum comfortable, code‑compliant seating the team can install is 502 seats, down from the conceptual “600+” in the referendum materials but up from the current 413 seats.

“That was a difficult tradeoff,” Potter said. He described the change as improving patron comfort and adding ADA‑compliant removable wheelchair spaces, while noting the revised seat count will not allow the middle school to seat an entire grade in the auditorium at once.

Board members raised concerns about messaging to the community given prior referendum materials and expectations. One board member said the change would disappoint families who expected a larger space; Potter and Rich Brown described the reduction as unavoidable given actual room dimensions, ADA needs, and comfort standards the district wanted to preserve.

On schedule, Potter said some interior ceiling work at the high school will be pushed into fall or winter to avoid impacting occupied spaces; the chiller overhaul for the high school will be done in the fall to avoid disrupting cooling during the summer, and mechanical and controls work will be timed to avoid the cooling season. For several projects (for example, Tatum second‑floor work), the team plans to rebid in late summer or fall to get more competitive contractor interest and to take advantage of better lead times.

Other items: the gym flooring abatement and replacement contracts were awarded under budget and are expected to finish over the summer; stadium ADA upgrades were awarded and are on schedule; the Maggie House historic‑relocation steps and related State Historic Preservation Office coordination were advanced earlier than planned because they are critical to clearing the Hopkins gym site.

Board members urged the team to provide frequent updates and clearer community messaging as projects shift. Colliers will produce cost estimates and schedule analyses from the 80% construction documents and work with the district’s LRP committee to refine phasing and procurement. Potter and Colliers said they will return with more‑detailed timelines and a revised bid strategy before the next LRP meeting.

The board did not take new formal votes on the referendum items at this meeting; the presentation focused on status, scope revisions, and next procurement steps.

The referendum update and the discussion that followed illustrated the key tradeoffs the district faces between (1) meeting the community’s expectations, (2) controlling costs amid a tight contractor market for HVAC and specialty trades, and (3) sequencing work so classrooms and student activities are minimally disrupted in 2025–26.

Looking ahead, the district and its construction manager will present refined procurement packages and schedules at upcoming LRP and finance meetings and will begin phased bidding for projects the team decides to advance.