Making Choices…

Last Wednesday the SBC continued the Value Engineering (VE) process to ensure the project remains on budget. As reported last week, the cost estimates at the end of the 60% Construction Documents phase (60% CD) came in about $2.8M higher than the budget, so the SBC embarked on another round of VE. We’ll be honest, this is not the fun part of the job. As the Committee works through a series of cost-reduction line items, we are guided by the Project Principles that the SBC and the community established and articulated two years ago:

• Focus on educational value
• Make the project Net Zero
• Respect the look and feel of the campus
• Make choices that retain the long-term value of the project

After Wednesday’s meeting, VE is almost complete and the SBC expects to complete the process this week (Wednesday, 7pm, Hartwell multipurpose room).

What happens next?

• Once VE is complete, the project officially moves into the 90% Construction Documents phase (90% CD). This phase is when the final details are fleshed out in preparation for putting the project out to bid.
• We already have a Construction Manager (Consigli), but need to solicit bids for the areas of the project that are subcontracted (e.g. plumbing, HVAC, etc.)
• The 90% CD phase will be completed by the end of December. One more round of cost estimates is performed before the bid documents are finalized.
• UPDATE: The temporary classroom units will start arriving from the Hanscom campus on WEDNESDAY night (this is a change). 6-7 trailers per night will be delivered over the course of a number of nights until all 37 units are on the campus.

Just for fun…(click on the question to see the answer)

• How do we protect the trees?
• Which grade will start middle school in a renovated building?
• How old are the children now who will start their school careers in a renovated building?