Were architects for Bluffton's future
school replaced for moving too slowly?
By GINNY SKALSKI
gskalski@islandpacket.com
843-706-8144
Published Monday, May 21, 2007
The push is on to get Bluffton's new elementary school built, and
the district says it's changing course to make that happen.
The Beaufort County School District is hiring a new architect to
design Bluffton's Red Cedar Elementary School, saying the
Charlotte-based architectural firm that already started the work
was moving too slowly.
But officials with Perkins + Will, the firm being replaced, say
they were poised to meet all of the district's deadlines and don't
understand why the district is letting the company go.
"We're really kind of perplexed by this whole thing," said
company spokesman Chris Schroder. "We thought we were
doing great work, that we were on time, on budget and that we
were fulfilling the request for the school board."
District officials disagree and urged the school board to hire a
new firm. On Tuesday, the board made the change, voting 10-0
to hire Hilton Head Island-based FWA Group to take over the
job.
"The administration told us that the architect was not meeting his
due dates and they didn't believe he would have it designed ... to
open in time for fall 2008," said board member Jim Bequette,
who represents Lady's Island.
THE PROJECT
The 85,000-square-foot elementary school will be built on 18.5
acres on Red Cedar Lane near its intersection with Bluffton
Parkway. The district is scrambling to get the school designed
and built in time to open in August 2008. The 650-student school
is supposed to relieve overcrowding at three other Bluffton-area
elementary schools.
Last year, the school board awarded an $862,500 contract to
Perkins + Will to design the school. Architect Joelle Mirco said
the firm has met all of the district's deadlines, including
completing the schematic design on time. Those designs show
how the school will be situated on the land, the size of the
building and the floor plan.
"In our opinion, it was going to be a very tight schedule," Mirco
said. "But we were going to pull all the resources in our practice
to get the construction drawings ready."
IN WITH THE NEW
FWA Group is supposed to pick up where Perkins + Will left
off, using the Charlotte firm's schematic design as a basis for
future construction documents, said school district spokesman
Tom Hudson. The firm was the runner-up during the district's
search for an architect, he said.
The district has not settled on a price for FWA Group's services,
Hudson said, nor has it determined how much money it will have
to pay Perkins + Will for work already completed.
In an e-mail distributed to school board members, a district
official who specializes in planning the new schools wrote that
"the risk of failure was too significant by not making this
change."
The official, Frank Koltonski, also wrote: "The 'official'
statement should be that both parties had reached a mutual
agreement to terminate for the best interest of the construction
project."
But Schroder said if it were up to Perkins + Will, the firm still
would be heading up the project, adding that the firm is still
willing to work on this or other future Beaufort County projects.
"It was their choice," he said. "It's their prerogative, but they
decided in midstream to go with someone else."
Hudson said things ended amicably with Perkins + Will.
"We've got very high regard for their professionalism and
expertise," Hudson said. "Just some of the delays we had, we as
a district, made us have to take a different approach, so we
mutually agreed to end the contract."
BRINGING IN HELP
To help the district get the school done on time, Mirco said
Perkins + Will suggested the district hire a contractor to assist
with the design of the school. The contractor could shave time
off final construction by making sure the school was being
designed in a way that made for quick construction.
On Tuesday, the board voted 8-2 to hire Aiken-based contractor
H.E. Reynolds to do the job. The district will pay the firm
$200,000 for the work.
Board members Joan Deery and Bequette voted against hiring
H.E. Reynolds as a protest because the contract did not spell out
that there is a $12.3 million cap on construction costs. The board
set that cap earlier this year.
Instead, the construction price will be set later this year, Hudson
said, when the district hires a contractor to build the school. The
school will be paid for with bond money voters approved in May
2006.
"I'm willing to bet that when the school price gets fixed in
September, we're going to pay a lot more money for it," Bequette
said.
Photo: This is a conceptual drawing of Bluffton's future Red Cedar
Elementary School, created by architects from Perkins + Will. It was
presented to the school board April 26. Image provided by Perkins +
Will