Sticker shock has prompted Hamilton County Schools Superintendent Dr. Justin Robertson to pivot from a major facilities plan approved by the school board in January that would have relocated Center for Creative Arts in North Chattanooga to the Gateway Building downtown on West M.L. King Boulevard.
The school board’s facilities committee on Monday discussed new estimates compiled by firms Lewis Group Architects of Knoxville and Matthew Twitchell of Chattanooga which placed the Gateway project at $83 million. The January estimate was $50 million to relocate CCA and integrate career and technical education.
“When I talk about my apprehension with, you know, the $83 million for a singular project, I think there’s going to be apprehension at the County Commission for that as well. My opinion," Dr. Robertson told the committee.
“My recommendation to the board is that you need to reconsider what we’re doing at Gateway,” he said.
Instead, he recommended renovating the first and second floors of the Gateway Building to accommodate career and technical education only, following a model similar to Harrison Bay’s, which accepts students from many school zones. This project would cost $15 million, he said.
“If that is the option the board went with, then Clifton Hills, Soddy Daisy, Dupont Elementary and Brainerd all have more than enough money to get those projects done,” Dr. Robertson said.
“That action is wrong,” said District 6 school board member Ben Connor. “That action is not the will of the board.”
The plan to put CCA and a vocational school at Gateway was prioritized as first in a line of five in January.
Mr. Connor said other items on the list’s top five got high new estimates, too. Dupont Elementary’s new estimate is $11 million above the January estimate of $40 million, he said.
“The dollar amount should translate to how many students could be affected by this, or helped by this,” he said, tallying 900 students that would have enrolled at Gateway’s January plan.
He argued that the January plan surfaced as the only plan to utilize all of “the very, very expensive building that we bought.”
“Apparently there’s a whole new idea that everybody knows about except for me,” Mr. Connor said.
Clifton Hills Elementary School in South Chattanooga was bumped from discussion Monday while the architects weed through renovations and additions amid the property’s significant flood plain and tight boundaries. District 11 school board member Jill Black told the committee she worried the project would end up on the chopping block, too.
“It’s upsetting,” she said.
But Dr. Robertson said the facilities committee should meet again when the Clifton Hills estimate is ready, within two weeks, and also to discuss use and funding of the Gateway building.
“There’s a lot that’s frustrating to me tonight,” Dr. Robertson said. “I’m being accused of being dishonest, accused of not putting Clifton Hills first when you saw what we went through a year and a half ago,” he said, “ … because we don’t have a report on one school that we said would be the most difficult project.”
Committee Chairman Gary Kuehn pointed out that Gateway’s $83 million request is half of the county’s $167 million designation for five school projects, though the county also approved a $20 million contingency for overages.
Chairman Kuehn tallied $215 million needed for the first five projects, excluding the incomplete Clifton Hills estimate.
School Board Chairman Joe Smith also expressed concern that the board approve a plan the County Commission would agree to fund.
“Whatever we decide really doesn’t matter,” he said. “We’re making a suggestion.”
The county earlier bought the Gateway Building from BlueCross for $10 million.
The CCA move had been authorized only if the facilities installed at Gateway were on par or better than those the performing arts school currently has.
The recent analysis found that it would be expensive to change the certification of the cluster of Gateway buildings from business occupancy to educational occupancy. There are a number of costly improvements necessary for code updates, including accessibility and fire. Another big expense listed is upgrading the HVAC.
The major cost for converting the building for CCA use was the need to install a full working stage with curtains and rigging, an acoustic shell and acoustical clouds, and an orchestra pit with fill fillers allowing the stage to be extended.
The County Commission voted Aug. 14 to approve a $260 million bond issue - with the proceeds mainly to help build new county schools and take care of multiple deferred maintenance problems.
Gateway was at the top of the priority list and Clifton Hills and Soddy Daisy Middle School were tied for second.
Dr. Robertson said, after further study, the recommendation is not to demolish the current Soddy Daisy Middle, but to save some of the buildings and add a new two-story L-shaped building. The cafeteria, gym, library and offices would be retained.
Steve Slater, new District 1 school board member, said the size is projected for 605 students. He said, "I think we ought to make it a little bigger. Soddy Daisy and Sale Creek are growing like crazy. In 5-10 years we could be in the same position and that would be crazy."
The Soddy Daisy Middle projected cost had been $30 million to $50 million. The new plan cuts that to $26 million to $30 million.
The fourth priority was a new elementary school at Dupont Elementary that will serve several schools. Officials said there has already been a request for an architect for the design will nine firms responding. The next step is forming an architectural selection committee.
Number five on the list, combining Dalewood Middle and Brainerd High 6-12, would be $34 million.
Thrasher Elementary addition is sixth and renovation of the former Cigna building across from East Brainerd Elementary is seventh.
Justin Witt, who oversees county school building projects and maintenance, said the schools want to begin incorporating a Construction Manager at Risk (CMAR) into school building projects.
He said the CMAR would help in the design and oversee the construction, in effect serving as the general contractor. He said the CMAR would line up the subcontractors and all that process would be publicly advertised.
Mr. Witt said with this process "you don't get to bid opening day when for the first time you see the final price and you are in panic mode. You didn't have a chance to value engineer."
Asked if one CMAR could do all the upcoming school projects, he said each would be bid separately. He said several CMARs would be available.
He said Walker County, Catoosa County and Bradley County are among those using the process.
Click here for the report that was given to the Facilities Committee.