WALTHAM - The city received only one bid last week to renovate Whittemore Elementary, and Mayor Jeannette McCarthy rejected it for being more than $5 million over budget.
"We decided the bid should be immediately rejected, so it was," said David King, chairman of the School Building Committee. "That left us with the problem of what to do next."
Renovations of the Parmenter Road school were budgeted at $19.1 million, according to King. When bids were opened Nov. 30, Springfield-based Fontaine Bros., Inc. was the lone bidder at $24,887,000, more than $5 million than budgeted.
"Fontaine Bros. has an excellent reputation, and we’d love to have them work on Whittemore, but not for $25 million," said King.
Prior to last night’s School Committee meeting, King said the School Building Committee met to discuss options moving forward. He said the consensus from that meeting was to use the existing renovation plans for Whittemore but also use a technique called "value engineering."
King described this as a process where costs could be cut without damaging the design of the building.
"The thought was that we could try to get some savings through value engineering without cheapening the building itself," King said.
"We agreed to not make Whittemore inferior and the goal is to make it comparable to other new schools," McCarthy said.
For example, King said mechanical rooftop units could be built with aluminum instead of steel. "We’re not sure if that’s appropriate, and some people probably feel it isn’t, but there could be substantial savings," he said.
King said another option that was discussed last night involved eliminating the Project Labor Agreement (PLA), which mandates that only labor unions are employed during construction.
"We discussed that at length with representatives from several local unions, and the (School Building Committee) voted not to consider eliminating the PLA," King said.
One reason why King said he felt there was only one bid for the project was because it’s a renovation of an existing structure. Under the proposed design, part of Whittemore’s historic facade would be maintained.
"Contractors aren’t interested in doing renovations of old buildings," King said. "It’s easier to predict the costs and profits when constructing a new facility."
Another reason why there may have only been one bidder is because eight companies have already shown interest in bidding on construction for the new Fitzgerald Elementary on Beal Road.
"Those companies either don’t have the bonding or physical capacity to work on two schools at the same time, so they decided to bid on one instead of the other," he said. "Once the Fitzgerald bid is awarded, all the other bidders will be gone, and there’s a sense they may then bid on Whittemore."
The School Building Committee is scheduled to meet Dec. 21, at which time it will review the bids for Fitzgerald. A meeting will also be held Dec. 13 for neighbors and abutters of Whittemore to learn about the project. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and will be held at South Middle School on Moody Street.
Christopher Rocchio can be reached at 781-398-8009 or crocchio@cnc.com.
Value Engineering being considered
[ufrby1]By Christopher Rocchio
[ufrby2]DAILY NEWS STAFF
[ufrbody]WALTHAM - Only one bid was received last week for the renovation of Whittemore Elementary, and it was rejected by Mayor Jeannette McCarthy for being more than $5 million over budget.
"We decided the bid should be immediately rejected, so it was," said David King, chairman of the School Building Committee. "That left us with the problem of what to do next."
Renovations of the Parmenter Road school were budgeted at $19.1 million, according to King. When bids were opened on Nov. 30, Springfield-based Fontaine Bros., Inc. was the lone bidder at $24,887,000, more than $5 million than what was originally budgeted for.
"Fontaine Bros. has an excellent reputation, and we’d love to have them work on Whittemore, but not for $25 million," said King.
Prior to last night’s School Committee meeting, King said the School Building Committee met to discuss options moving forward. He said the consensus from that meeting was to use the existing renovation plans for Whittemore but also use a technique called "value engineering." King described this as a process where costs could be cut without damaging the design of the building.
"The thought was that we could try to get some savings through value engineering without cheapening the building itself," said King. "We agreed to not make Whittemore inferior and the goal is to make it comparable to other new schools," added McCarthy.
For example, King said mechanical rooftop units could be constructed using aluminum instead of steel.
"We’re not sure if that’s appropriate, and some people probably feel it isn’t, but there could be substantial savings," he said.
King said another option that was discussed last night involved eliminating the Project Labor Agreement (PLA), which mandates that only labor unions are employed during construction.
"We discussed that at length with representatives from several local unions, and the (School Building Committee) voted not to consider eliminating the PLA," said King.
One reason why King said he felt there was only one bid for the project was due to the fact that it’s a renovation of an existing structure. Under the proposed design, part of Whittemore’s historic facade would be maintained.
"Contractors aren’t interested in doing renovations of old buildings," said King. "It’s easier to predict the costs and profits when constructing a new facility."
Another reason why there may have only been one bidder is due to the fact that eight companies have already shown interest in bidding on construction for the new Fitzgerald Elementary on Beal Road.
"Those companies either don’t have the bonding or physical capacity to work on two schools at the same time, so they decided to bid on one instead of the other," he said. "Once the Fitzgerald bid is awarded, all the other bidders will be gone, and there’s a sense they may then bid on Whittemore."
The School Building Committee is scheduled to meet on Thursday, Dec. 21, at which time they will review the bids for Fitzgerald. A meeting will also be held on Wednesday, Dec. 13 for neighbors and abutters of Whittemore to learn about the project. The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and will be held at South Middle School on Moody Street.
Christopher Rocchio can be reached at 781-398-8009 or crocchio@cnc.com.
