Costs of Elizabeth Forward Phase I construction clarified

Progress continues to be made at the high school.

Al Ragan, director of finance and operations for Elizabeth Forward School District, has clarified the cost of ongoing construction at the high school.

Online and in public comment sessions, it has been rumored that the price tag for Phase 1 of the project has jumped from around $56 million to $115 million.

“I don’t know where they got that from, but I think what happened is there might have been an estimate way before we got bids for Phase 1,” Ragan said. “But once we actually got the bids, which were approved by the board, and this is with soft costs, contingency and everything, (Phase 1) is at $74,759,874.”

According to the July 2024 agenda, the approved base bids for Phase 1 for all the contractors adds up to $55,948,270.30. With the additional HVAC bid awarded in October 2024, it adds up to $60,251,930.30

That is just base construction costs, according to Ragan and does not take into consideration contingencies and soft costs, which adds up to around $74 million.

According to the November 2025 agenda, approved bids for Phase 2 add up to $29,516,870.

Phase 1 and Phase 2 base construction costs, and the other costs that go along with them, add up to around $112,531,461, according to Ragan.

“That fire happened in 2023, and we were getting contracts and going through all this process,” Ragan said. “Probably the beginning of 2024, and I want to say somewhere in the fall of 2023, there were probably estimates put out there, but they were just estimates.

“No one knew what the cost per square foot was. Initially, it was probably estimated with lower numbers because before COVID, it was a lot less, and then after, these bids came in at a lot more.”

Day-to-day update

Clerk of the works for the district Dave Macioce said last week that auditorium construction is coming together.

Wall paneling and ceiling acoustic paneling are installed as crews work on floor preparations. Most of the overhead lighting is in, and the stage lighting is still being worked on.

“(For the upper level seating area) right now, they are grinding the concrete getting ready for the sealer,” Macioce said. “Once they get ground out and sealed, the electrician will start the aisleway lighting, and work his way down toward the front.”

The lobby of the auditorium was recently painted, and they are working to get electrical fixtures in. Once those are in, they can start completing the ceiling, and flooring is being installed this week.

According to Macioce, the band and choral area is also coming together, and they also have acoustical panels up. They are waiting on the garage door to be installed in the band area so bigger instruments can come in and out. After that, they can finish the ceilings in those rooms.

Signage is on the side of the school now, with a main entrance sign for the auditorium. Parking lot lights are being installed, and the parking lot will be milled and paved in July. Macioce said landscaping has also been installed.

Based on most recent payments for Phase 1, general contractor Rycon Construction Inc. is 92% complete, Lugalia Mechanical is 99% complete, fire protection is 95% complete, Moses Electrical is at 94% complete and Vrabel Plumbing is 99% completed.

Phase 2, with bids approved in December, is for an academic addition of classrooms and corresponding grade capacity at the high school. There will also be athletic fields, which were added as bid alternatives.

For Phase 2, Macioce said 98% of the additional foundations are in, the plumber has started underground piping in the basement and they are going to begin laying blocks. That area is also getting backfilled, and steel erection will start at the end of July.

“These pictures really don’t do it justice,” school board Vice President Rick Cummings said at a recent meeting. “I encourage the board to go up, and see this stuff in person. It’s really amazing the progress that’s been made in such a short amount of time just this year.”

Change orders

Following last week’s committee of the whole meeting, several change orders for high school construction will be up for approval at Wednesday’s voting meeting.

One of them is from general contractor Rycon Construction for floor finish upgrades requested by the district for $21,254.54.

“We have a number of areas,” said David McLean of McLean Architects. “The two new locker rooms and the hallway that serves those locker rooms on the original documents was just sealed concrete, and there was an interest in improving the floors in those areas, so we upgraded to an epoxy finish in the locker rooms and added BCC vinyl composition tile down the long corridor that comes in along the corridor by the locker rooms and the gym.”

The district is holding an estimate for paving and grading of the bus parking lot area, according to McLean.

For Moses Electrical has a credit of $31,133.65, which is a combination of added work and contract credits. Two monitors were added to the auditorium lobby, and audio connectors were added to the band and choral rooms.

“We had (a change order) last month that was similar, but those were for the first round of adds that were made by (music) staff there, and there was a subsequent meeting there where they added additional monitors, and power and data to those,” McLean said. “That, in this change order, is in the amount of $4,740 for those added monitors.”

It becomes a credit because they take site related unit pricing from the original contract, according to McLean.

The site work for Phase 1 is winding down, there won’t be additional electrical work under Phase 1 and the need for using extra credits not used for electrical work, McLean said. Those cashed out credits are around $38,000.

Another change order will be added to this week’s agenda for $3,079.96 for outlets added into the auditorium and band room because they are still tying the band/choral room to the stage via camera and sound systems.

A pit orchestra is being looked at, but nothing is finalized yet.

The change order for fire protection is for piping at an increase of $855. It has additional work for a piping connection, according to Mc-Lean, for sprinkler piping that serves the first floor and the basement.

“The connection was not on the original documents to make that vertical connection between the first and second floor at one location, so that’s an added scope of work of $3,555,” McLean said. “We had some contract credits, and we’re taking those on this change order for a credit of $2,700, so the net of those two is $855 on the fire protection.”

Board members Travis Stoffer and Megan Ferraro questioned why this pipe wasn’t included in the original drawings – stating that it is not a mistake on the district’s part, and asked why they would be paying for it when it was not their responsibility.

“It’s work that is needed, but was never paid for. In other words, it was not on the original document,” McLean said. “Our engineers missed it. I think they didn’t make that connection between the first and the second floor. But it’s not a change order where you are paying for something a second time. It’s your paying for the work one time, and have not paid for it yet.”