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Parkland board hears high-school renovation update; budget presented at $68.2M excluding media center
Summary
Architects told the board the high-school renovation will expand the building to about 578,000 sq ft (capacity 4,000), add labs and program spaces, and proceed on an early-steel two-package bid schedule; consultants presented a $68.2M budget excluding the media center and $70.6M if the media center is added.
Jamie Bortz, the project architect from Alloy 5, told the Parkland School District board the high-school renovation is in the construction-document phase and nearing completion, with a targeted 99% CD submission on Aug. 29.
“We're currently in [the] construction document phase, and we are nearing the end of that phase,” Bortz said, outlining the schedule for final drawings and early bidding. She said the planned work increases the building from about 493,000 square feet to roughly 578,000 square feet, with about 74,000 square feet of renovation within the existing footprint and a target capacity of 4,000 students. Program additions include 28 general classrooms, 11 science labs, two engineering labs, a robotics lab, an expanded media center (ad alternate), and expanded nurses and athletics spaces.
Rob Avatave, who reviewed procurement timing and estimates, described a two-package bidding strategy with an early steel package to keep the project on the critical path and to enable major trades to be awarded by year-end. Avatave summarized the high-level cost picture: the schematic estimate for the building was roughly $43 million with site and contingency bringing construction to about $56–57 million; when soft costs are included, “this budget that we're presenting based on these drawings is $68,200,000 excluding the media center,” he said, adding that including the media center would bring the total to about $70.6 million.
Board members asked about staging, courtyard capacity and the impact of electing ad alternates such as the media center and athletics entrance. Bortz and district staff described the “domino effect” of removing some alternates (for example, how deleting the athletic entrance would affect where the technology office locates) and noted estimated savings of about $1 million from a revised stair solution compared with an earlier structural approach.
The presentation closed with a logistics plan for contractor staging, a proposed fenced staging area behind the bus loop, and a construction schedule that extends into December 2027. Consultants said they will solicit early steel bids in September and follow with the remaining trades in mid-October to November.
