GENTRY -- Gentry School Board voted unanimously to make Flintco the construction manager for both the new classroom building on the intermediate school campus and the other construction and improvements projects which were approved by the board when it submitted to the voters a millage increase request in the September School Election. That would include being construction manager for the diesel mechanic lab and vocational classrooms on the high school campus and the reroofing of the portion of the intermediate school building which will be a part of the new school complex.
Flintco was the first choice among three firms selected by the board for negotiations for the construction manager post.
The move, according to both Randy Barrett, superintendent of Gentry Public Schools, and Mark Haguewood, vice president of Hight Jackson and Associates, the school district's contracted architectural firm, could streamline the construction projects and give the school district better-quality products at a lower price. The selection would allow more efficient planning, subcontracting and could possibly give the school district better pricing on construction materials because of the combined projects.
The appointment would include a contingency on some projects receiving state funding to help with part of the work, but the diesel mechanic lab and the intermediate school classroom projects will move forward even if no state funding is received for the intermediate school project and improvements at the high school, according to Barrett. The diesel lab and vocational classrooms project does not qualify for state funding but will be paid for with a portion of the funding made available through the recently-passed (3.1mills) millage increase.
Due to the age of the existing classroom buildings at the intermediate school campus on S. Second Street and the ongoing problems the school had with a leaky roof, a new classroom facility there is regarded as a high priority for the school district in order to provide a safe and modern learning environment for students in the third through fifth grades. In the intermediate school plan, the six wing buildings and the main classroom area would be demolished -- leaving the multipurpose area with music and art rooms, a gym and a cafeteria -- and the new classroom facility would be built on the site of the existing main classroom area on S. Second Street. The building would include 18 classrooms and a safe-room-commons area. Proposed plans would make the new building two-stories high to accommodate the need for adequate classroom space on the limited-space campus. Also included in intermediate school building projects would be a new roof on the portion of the intermediate school not included in demolition plans (the multipurpose building on the north side of the bus tunnel).
The estimated cost of the building project at the Gentry Intermediate School campus is $7.5 million, based on a two story building with each level having roughly 24,361 square feet.
Approval for the proposed Gentry Intermediate School classroom project was given the Gentry School District by the Arkansas Division of Public School Academic Facilities and Transportation. Though there is no guarantee the district will receive assistance from the state, the approval means the state could contribute approximately $1.2 million toward the building of a new classroom facility on the intermediate school campus and the new roof on the building north of the bus tunnel which houses the cafeteria and the art and music classrooms now that voters approved the a 3.1 mill tax increase in the school election on Sept. 20. Approval was also received for the high school upgrades and improvements.
Additional funding to pay for the building project at the intermediate school campus could also be received from the Federal Emergency Management Agency for the building of a safe-room-commons area on the intermediate school campus which would be large enough to accommodate all students and staff from the school.
Other projects include a diesel-mechanic lab with two truck bays and career classrooms on the high school campus (proposed along SWEPCO Rd., on the north edge of the baseball field), electrical upgrades and improvements in the high school and the new agriculture building. Estimated cost to build the diesel lab is about $2 million, with the other three projects estimated to bring the total to approximately $12 million or more.
The diesel mechanics' lab could be built and ready to use by the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year, with no need to delay until a state decision on partnership funding on other projects.
Should the district not receive state funding to assist in its building projects, the new intermediate school classroom facility would be built with voter-approved bonds, Barrett said. The diesel mechanic lab and classrooms for the new charter school's career training will also be built with money from the voter-approved bonds, but other upgrade projects would have to be put on hold until funding becomes available, Barrett explained.
The board also authorized Hight Jackson and Associates to start the design drawings for the diesel mechanic and vocational classroom building and for the intermediate school classroom facility since those projects will be moving forward regardless of state funding assistance. Allowing the drawings to be prepared was suggested as a way to move forward with both projects so that the diesel mechanic lab can be ready for the start of the 2017-2018 school year and the new intermediate school for the beginning of the 2018-2019 school year.
General News on 11/30/2016