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New school's cost rises to $45-million

The increasing price of materials and insurance are mostly to blame, officials say. Another factor: The school also will be a hurricane shelter.

By TOM MARSHALL
Published August 15, 2006

BROOKSVILLE - Rising material costs and insurance premiums will boost the construction cost of the new K-8 school in Spring Hill to at least $45.4-million, officials said Monday.

But unlike its $32-million sister school, Challenger K-8 School of Science and Mathematics, this one will be zoned as a neighborhood school. That means fewer large laboratories and more classrooms, said facilities director Roland "Bo" Bavota.

Where Challenger has 1,639 student stations, the new school will have 2,171 spots with a partial third floor, he said.

And with its location at Northcliffe Boulevard and Azora Road in Spring Hill, that extra classroom space should bring immediate relief to overcrowded neighboring elementary schools like Spring Hill, Deltona and J.D. Floyd.

Other costs - including $3.4-million in furniture and about $2.6-million in architecture, design, testing and other expenditures - brings the estimated "turnkey" cost of the project to $51.4-million, Bavota said. A final, guaranteed maximum construction cost from Ajax Building Corp., is expected by Sept. 5.

Many of the cost increases since Challenger was built in 2004 are out of the district's hands, Bavota said. The cost of some construction materials has risen dramatically, with non-ferrous pipe and tube up 17.5 percent and diesel fuel up 4 percent.

The state's class-size reduction law has also forced districts to build more. The cost to build classrooms, storage areas and bathrooms has increased 20 percent as the 2002 constitutional amendment takes effect, and total construction costs are 10 to 15 percent higher, Bavota said.

Since last year's damaging hurricane season, "builder's risk" insurance has also skyrocketed. That item, which cost $87,000 in 2004, will now cost at least $278,000, Bavota said.

But if another hurricane strikes after the new school is completed in December 2007, it will provide the county with something many other schools can't: shelter.

"The school is a complete hurricane endurance protection facility," Bavota said. "I think that's a big plus for the community."

Making the structure sound enough to serve as a shelter added about $980,000 to the cost, but the county did contribute to that portion of the cost, Bavota added.

And the building will be constructed to the state's 50-year endurance standard, with features designed to keep maintenance costs low and avoid costly problems such as mold, Bavota said.

"I would not say this is a Cadillac," Bavota said. "It's a school that's built with what I think is a lot of forethought. This is going to save us money way down the road."

The Hernando County School Board is scheduled to review the project and its costs today at a 3 p.m. workshop.

Tom Marshall can be reached at tmarshall@sptimes.com or (352) 848-1431.

[Last modified August 15, 2006, 06:50:38]