Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Some Bids Approved By School Board For Gym

Bids were accepted to get work underway on the new gym for Prescott High School.

In a special called meeting of the Prescott School Board Monday, Oct. 16, it was decided to go ahead and contract out the concrete, structural steel, millwork, waterproofing, general contracting, glass and glazing, plumbing, electrical, and heating and air conditioning work.

The board agreed to wait before contracting out six other portions of the project, including the building itself. This is being done in an effort to get better prices to help reduce the overall cost.

The board held off on accepting bids on the building, all flooring, masonry, tile, carpeting and painting.

At the September meeting of the board, the project bids were discussed and were considerably over budget.

With all bids included Monday, the cost of construction, had all been accepted, would be $1,996,000.

Depending on the outcome of more contacts by the David French Architect Co. and Wade Abernathy, Inc., this price could be even lower.

But, the idea, according to Prescott Superintendent Ron Wright, is to begin moving forward with construction.

An effort was made to get local contractors involved in the bid process, Wright said, but there proved to be problems with some being licensed for a project of this magnitude.

Abernathy, Inc. was the low bidder on concrete work, while Structural Precast Products turned in the low bid for the bleacher castings.

Local contractor John McLelland got the bid on the millwork, and could possibly have the low bid on the overall building.

The plumbing bid went to Worley Plumbing, with an interesting side note.

According to Abernathy, the contractor offered to plumb the kitchen if floor drains were removed from the plans, with standard sink drains used instead. This, he said, saved about $13,000.

One of the problems with letting the paint bid is the contractor in question isn't licensed for a project of this scope. Normally, Abernathy said, the cutoff on requiring a license is $20,000.

David French, with French Architects, said usually when people without licences work on projects this size, they get behind because they don't have the available manpower, and can put the entire project behind schedule.

Many of the changes made were to remove the tile and masonry portions, going, instead to concrete and drywall.

Wright said PHS, along with most other high schools, don't have a quality sound system.

Seating and a public address system are the two big ticket items Wright will be working on.

A good public address system can cost around $7,000. Wright will be looking for donations and grants to help purchase a PA system for the gym.

Abernathy pointed out the bids contained no kitchen equipment at all.

Wright said the district has been picking up these items as it can, and is trying to do it in such a manner to save money.

With several bids accepted, construction can begin as soon as the rebar arrives for the foundation work.

Abernathy said the district is ahead of the game, even though it may not seem like it, because everything has been staked out.