January 22, 2009 Issue
Watauga High School Construction Cost Update
The new Watauga High School, seen here under a layer of snow, is on schedule for a fall 2010 completion date. Photo by Patrick Pitzer
For the past few months, the Watauga County Board of Commissioners has approved change orders for the new Watauga High School at most meetings. Some change orders reflect necessary design changes, some reflect increased costs or unexpected conditions such as additional rock at the baseball field, and some, such as a recent $88,214 deductive change order, mean a credit for the county.
So far, the change orders have been largely covered by Barnhill-Vannoy’s construction manager at risk contingency or by the county contingency that was originally budgeted at $900,000.
And so far, costs are keeping pretty well in line with projections.
In March 2007, the total of the three guaranteed maximum price packages—site preparation, steel and foundation, and building construction—was $59,900,000. Adding costs for the land, Barnhill-Vannoy’s preconstruction work, architectural and engineering services and LEED certification brought the total to $71,982,188, a figure that did not include debt service on the financing for the school and a number of other costs.
The current figure, as of the commissioners’ meeting on January 5 when the board approved additional change orders, stands at $74,317,356.65, an amount that, unlike the March 2007 figure, includes interest on the land loan, loan issuance costs for the $70 million financing and the Local Government Commission application fee, permit and availability fees, an estimate for obtaining rights of way, and miscellaneous costs that include the grave relocations from the cemetery discovered on the property, as well as $860,150 for lockers, stage equipment and athletic field equipment that were not included in the building construction guaranteed maximum price. These costs total $2,288,119.
Of the $75 million current estimate, the county has expended $39 million.
The following table provides the breakdown of costs and cost estimates to date.
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