Northern Burlington recommends $18.36 million auditorium bid after value engineering

Superintendent Dr. Zuckerman reported that Northern Burlington received negotiated bids for the high school auditorium and is recommending award to a bidder identified in the presentation as Jay Ogren in the amount of $18,356,000. The superintendent said the architect and the district’s attorneys are reviewing the bids and that the recommendation will appear as a non-consent resolution on a future board agenda.

Dr. Zuckerman told the board the district rejected its first two rounds of bids and used value engineering to reduce cost and scope without significantly altering the overall project. He described negotiated changes that reduced the project cost by approximately $2,300,000, including replacing a bowed roof with a low-slope EPDM rubber roof, replacing facing brick on addition facades with EIFS siding, substituting rubber wall base for maple wood trim in applicable areas, changing foam insulation types at entrance canopies, eliminating a pit-mounted loading-dock lift and related overhead door, and other scope adjustments.

The superintendent said the district and its architect negotiated to preserve the integrity of the project while lowering cost. The bids and negotiated scope changes will be reviewed by counsel and placed on the March 24 agenda as non-consent items for formal action.

No formal vote on the auditorium award occurred at the work session; the superintendent asked the board to expect the non-consent resolution at the next regular meeting and noted further documentation would be provided by the business administrator and architect prior to any final action.