School Board receives update on John A. Holmes’ project
BY NICOLE LAYTON
The Chowan County Board of Commissioners, along with members of the Edenton-Chowan Board of Education, will participate in a private tour the John A. Holmes High School construction project at 2:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 13.
After the tour, County Commissioners will also visit the Chowan County Courthouse renovation project to view the progress. No business will be discussed during either tour.
On Monday, the Board of Education received an update on the high school project from Maintenance Director Chris Brabble during its regular meeting.
Brabble noted that the green building is turning gray, as an air barrier — part of the effort to build an environmentally friendly building — is being sprayed on the exterior.
“Believe it or not, Area C, which is the south end closest to the baseball field, they will start hanging sheetrock in there next week,” he said.
Brabble noted that the framing on the first floor of the classroom corridor is almost finished.
“If you look into the gymnasium, the big cinder block building, that floor is now poured concrete. They poured all the concrete inside of that slab, and the the wall on the north end of that will will go up,” he said. Brabble noted crews are working on footings for the auditorium, which will be next door to the gym.
In about three weeks, passersby will start seeing windows being installed in the Broad Street facility.
“Right after the first of the year, you can expect to start seeing some windows going in, which is pretty exciting, ” Brabble said. “Hopefully, also after the new year’s here, we’ll see some brick going up, which will definitely get everyone excited.”
Crews are currently installing overhead mechanical electrical equipment — fire suppression sprinkler system, HVAC system, storm water and sewer, etc. — on the main floor.
Crews expect to pour concrete for the main staircases within the next week.
“They’ll start setting steel for the cafeteria and the walkways and the areas on the core wing, which is the gym, cafeteria and auditorium section,” Brabble said.
Regarding the Scout Hut on Park Avenue, crews will pour concrete pads for the patios and building and build the new ADA-compliant restroom in the near future.
“Those are some of the things you can expect to see in the coming weeks,” Brabble said. “I encourage you now, maybe after the first of the year, to take a look to see what we have going on.”
Also during the meeting, the board unanimously approved a change order to cover overage in the cost of technical equipment throughout the school.
According to school officials, when the project’s original budget was done, $1 million was estimated to cover the cost of data and audio and visual equipment.
“The prices between the original budget and the bidding prices went up considerably over that course of time,” said Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources and Auxiliary Services Jana Rawls. “So when the original budget was done versus when the bidding was done, it came out $800,000 more. In order to not hold up the project, the request was made to separate them (technology and audio and visual) in the line items.”
The change order does not impact the guaranteed maximum price of construction, Brabble said. He noted that the money is from the contingency budget and will be moved to cover necessities regarding data equipment. Because USDA funds are being used, the agency’s representative vetted the proposed change order before it was presented to the board for approval.
Brabble noted that the budget includes a significant wish list of data and audio and visual items for the high school. The board will have to meet with the contractor to decide what is needed now and what they can get at a later date after construction is completed.
“As you know, technology, electrical, plumbing, mechanical — all prices went through the roof,” Brabble said. “Material (costs) just went crazy.”
For more information on the Board of Education meeting, visit our accompanying story by clicking here.