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Thursday, October 08, 2015

County Caps New Showell School Project Cost At $37M; School System Estimates Came In $54M

SNOW HILL – Plans for a new Showell Elementary School are moving ahead but only after the Worcester County Commissioners cut the project’s estimated cost.

The Worcester County Commissioners approved the school system’s request to move forward with a design for the new school but only after setting the price tag for the overall project at $37 million. School system estimates had set the cost of the project at $54 million.

“Was it a surprise? Sure,” said Bob Rothermel, president of the school board. “But we keep moving forward.”

Rothermel said education officials were still analyzing what the commissioners’ decision would mean for the project, which can now move into the design phase. Construction of the new school is currently expected to begin in 2019.

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4 comments:

Anonymous said...

As a builder of several schools on the western shore it absolutely frustrates me when you have non-construction people handling the procurement of a construction project. The reason the budgets "very widely" is mainly due to the design team getting too creative and any crazy LEED / environmental requirements.
I'll make it easy for you for the Snow Hill people.... Make sure the design team has designed schools. Then ask to see some of their previous elementary schools and ask how much it cost to build them and work from there. Or you can call up Fairfax, PG, Montgomery, Anne Arundel counties and ask about their recent schools and cost. I'm sure they would give you any info you ask for; because its in the best interest of the taxpayers.
Fairfax builds schools better than anyone I've seen. They build the same design over and over. All the kinks are worked out and construction goes really quick.

Anonymous said...

three cheers for Jim Bunting, Chip Bertino & Ted Elder!

Anonymous said...

Suggest getting an out of area architect to save $$$$$.

Steve said...

How about a designer that designs a school with four corners and one roof line?

Ever thought of that?

C'mon, people, reject this Holy Crap Design Contest!

It's a school. A square box works just fine.