By GLEN WERLING
Another legal step is out of the way as Northern Wells moves ever closer to making the middle school project a reality.
By a 5-0 vote Wednesday, members of the board in a special meeting approved the guaranteed maximum price amendment for the middle school project.
The guaranteed maximum price ensures that there will be no “scope creep” or change orders to the project. It cannot exceed $43,383,418 which is the value of the bonds the school corporation sold last fall.
“If there’s something that they find that is extra cost, that is at the risk of the construction management team,” Superintendent Mike Springer explained.
If the work actually turns out to cost less, it will be a savings to the school corporation.
Weigand Construction of Fort Wayne is serving as the general contractor. There will be a number of subcontractors working with Weigand.
There were 24 bids submitted for the project, 20 of which fell under the preconstruction estimate. The four bids that came in over the estimates were commodity driven, Springer said. “To have 20 out of 24 to be at or below the estimate in this construction climate is fantastic,” Springer said.
The next steps, as explained by Springer, are as follows:
• Letters of intent and contracts will be issued now.
• Mobilization of the construction equipment and materials starts next week.
• The moving of earth starts the following week — weather permitting.
• Foundations and footings for the new structure will begin mid-April.
• In order to facilitate the demolition of the current media center, a temporary wall will be built over spring break with the media center demo occurring through April 2022.
The timeline for construction of the new building — given favorable weather — will be from this month through July 2024. The goal is to have students in the new building by August of 2024.
The new building will be 118,036 square feet. The first floor will be 64,968 square feet while the second floor will be 53,068 square feet.
The school will also include the renovation of portions of the current school. A total of 41,454 square feet of the existing building will be renovated. The completed renovation project will include a new band and choir area, robotics and industrial arts shop space, a media center, complete renovation of the cafeteria into a cafetorium, additional classroom space, and a new drive and entrance to the school off U.S. 224.
Representatives from Weigand Construction, Engineering Resources, Schmidt Associates — the architect and engineering firm for the project — the Wells County Chamber of Commerce, the school board, Principal Tim Wilson, Springer and buildings and grounds director Adam Heckber all participated in a groundbreaking ceremony on the east side of the school building Thursday.
Some dry black dirt — certainly the only dry dirt on the school grounds — was brought in and piled next to the curb on the east drive of the school complex and everyone joined into throw a shovel of the dirt.
“We will do a more involved project kick-off celebration in May. This will involve students and more community members,” Springer said.
“I hope we have nice weather and are able to do it up right, then,” he concluded.
glenw@news-banner.com
