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Board hears detailed update on CTE building; architects outline design changes and cost-reduction steps
Summary
Architect Tom and district staff told the Newburgh City School District board that the CTE building design has been revised since the 2019 voter authorization to fix code issues, reallocate programs and reduce costs; current estimates include about $5.5 million in contingency and an increase to 23 classrooms from earlier submissions.
Tom, the project architect with CS Arch, presented a history of the CTE building’s design and the changes made since voters approved the project in May 2019. He said the ballot package originally listed a budget estimate of $62,000,000 and an authorized gross square footage of 133,000; later work and peer review by Jacobs (construction manager) led to a revised submission to the State Education Department in June 2023.
Tom told the board that the June 2023 submission showed fewer classrooms and a smaller gross area than the 2019 plan. “The construction-only estimate prepared by Jacobs was $92,700,000,” he said during the presentation, and the June package indicated about 21 classrooms rather than the 27 that had been in the original authorization. The project team identified multiple items that required revision for code and program compliance, including classroom minimum sizes, exit distances and the addition of IDF closets for network equipment.
The design team has since made programmatic and layout changes to address those issues while seeking cost savings. Tom said the team reduced the project estimate by roughly $4.2 million from an earlier internal figure and noted the project still carries approximately $5.5 million in contingency. “We were able to increase the number of classrooms to 23,” Tom said, and described moves such as relocating the vet-tech program to the ground floor, adding four student services offices (guidance, social worker and psychologist among them), enlarging cafeteria serving lines and creating an interior courtyard for outdoor dining.
Trustees asked where the extra cost would come from and whether it would affect the district’s general fund. District staff responded that the increased costs remain tied to the May 2019 proposition and are expected to be paid from bond funds associated with that authorization, not the general fund. Board members also pressed which programs were transferring to the CTE facility; Tom and staff listed cosmetology, barbering, vet tech, fashion, P-TECH, construction trades, auto tech, welding, TV production, computer labs and culinary.
Tom said construction progress is visible on site and that classrooms are approaching fit-out; he said the exterior brick and skin are largely installed and the team remains on track for the projected schedule. The presentation materials and Tom’s remarks emphasized code compliance, improved circulation and operational savings through reduced building volume.
Next steps: the board received the update and trustees asked staff to continue reporting budget and schedule status; no additional board action was taken on the CTE project at this meeting.
