GREENFIELD — A team made up of Greenfield-Central officials, an architect and an engineer is ready to screen contractors to lead multiple improvement projects involving all eight schools in the district.
The projects come in at $10.8 million to pay for a variety of work at the high school, junior high, two intermediate schools and four elementary schools. The school board plans to bond up to $12 million to fund the improvements.
The initiative’s technical review committee met earlier this week to approve a request for qualifications from contractors. That committee is made up of Jamie Lake of Jeffersonville-based J. Lake Architecture & Design; engineer Tom Durkin; Greenfield-Central Superintendent Harold Olin; school corporation business manager Nate Day; and community member Kathy Locke.
Greenfield-Central is using a design-build process for the improvements. It differs from the conventional design-bid-build process, which entails hiring an architect and engineering team to help develop a solution before putting the project out for a public bid.
The design-build process started with hiring Lake and Durkin to work in the corporation’s interest by developing the criteria for the projects.
The next step of the process is to receive qualifications from teams interested in taking on the improvements. Lake said he expects three to six contractors to respond to the request for qualifications.
“But the price tag may attract a few more,” he said.
Those teams will be vying to carry out projects at the school properties including additions, renovations and other improvements.
“It’s a really nice collection of work on multiple sites,” Lake said. “They’re all manageable. I think it’s a very attractive project.”
The technical review committee will score and rank the submissions at a future public meeting and narrow them down to no more than three. Those on the short list will have the opportunity to respond to a request for proposals.
Contenders will first submit proposals outlining conceptual designs and solutions. They’ll then give presentations to the technical review committee during a closed session, which will also give both sides the opportunity to ask and answer questions.
After that, each candidate will go back to work before submitting more in-depth proposals, which will be followed by another round of presentations and interviews. The technical review committee will score those proposals and select a design-builder before recommending them to the school board. Plan finalization follows, then construction.
Olin said he’s been part of a lot of design-bid-build projects in the past and is looking forward to the new approach.
“The design-build process should give us something that’s quicker, faster and better in tune with our needs,” he said.
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Greenfield-Central School Corporation planned improvements
Greenfield-Central High School
- Locker room addition
- Weight room addition
- Training room
- Renovate existing weight room and training room areas
- New greenhouse
- New storage room
- New access road
Greenfield-Central Jr. High School
- Auxiliary gym addition
- Replace security surveillance cameras
- New parking lot
Greenfield Intermediate School
- Replace chiller
- Renovate restrooms
- Replace interior lights
- Upgrade lockers
Maxwell Intermediate School
- Replace chiller
- Replace HVAC pumps
- Replace roof
Eden Elementary School
- Replace chiller
- Expand north parking lot
- Address ground water in existing boiler room
Harris Elementary School
- Add spaces to existing kindergarten rooms
J.B. Stephens Elementary School
- Replace roof
- Replace existing HVAC pumps
Weston Elementary School
- Secure main entrance
- Renovate restrooms
- Add kindergarten restrooms
- Replace chiller
- Replace HVCAC pumps
Source: J. Lake Architecture & Design
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