Cedar Rapids schools ready to start on new services center

The Cedar Rapids school district will break ground on its District Services Center today, the official beginning of a project more than a year in the making.

Construction is scheduled to begin in mid-July.

The 161,000-squarefoot facility will house all district support services - administration, transportation, buildings and grounds, warehouse and purchasing, printing and graphics, and food and nutrition - replacing facilities that were damaged in the June 2008 flood.

Board members unanimously voted to build the new facility on districtowned property at 2418 Edgewood Road NW in November. At that time, the project had a $35.05 million dollar price tag, with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover $12.46 million.

The remaining amount will be paid for with the district's school infrastructure local-option sales tax money.

The project's latest estimated cost is $44.5 million dollars. The bulk of the nearly $10 million increase is tied to the district's transportation center, already located on the site.

Board members voted in January to raze the current facility and move it to a new location on the site. Superintendent Dave Benson said there were no other options.

'We went through - I can't tell you how many, it must have been 30 or 40 - different ways of trying to configure the site, and ultimately came to the conclusion that our best long-term solution was to blend the buildings under one contiguous roof, one contiguous footprint, and to relocate transportation closer to where the buses are going to be parked,' he said.

By razing the transportation building, the district will be able to reconfigure the front entry of the new facility, addressing both safety and access concerns, Benson said.

Mike Gumm, project sponsor with Shive-Hattery Inc. of Cedar Rapids, said razing the transportation center helps the project timeline - and time is something the district can't waste.

If the district doesn't complete the project by May 2012, it could forfeit FEMA and state recovery financial assistance.

This is why the estimated $276.40 per square foot cost wasn't broken down by function. Gumm stressed that the amount includes all costs associated with the project, including demolition.

'Our main concern is the overall cost,' Gumm said. 'That's the controlling point. We're not trying to control costs between different areas, we're looking at controlling the project.' Gumm said the conservative estimate will allow the district to proceed with the project as bids are received.

'We don't want to get in a situation where we say 'It costs X' and it comes in higher,' Gumm said. 'Then you start the scramble of 'What do you cut?' or 'What do you do?' ... That just slows down the project.' Judy Marks, director of the National Clearinghouse for Education Facilities in Washington, D.C., said a project's price is unique to its location and scope of the design.

'There's no national figure you can pull out of your hat and say 'This should be that,'' she said. Marks added that a similar project in New York or California would cost more, perhaps as much as $500 to $700 per square foot, while other parts of the country would see a lower estimate.

'This is a good community project,' Benson said. 'It is going to add value to the community for 100 years and it is going to be built in a time that we have, we believe, favorable interest rates and favorable construction climate.'