High school project $14M under budget
KINGSTON, N.Y. » The first phase of the Kingston High School renovation and expansion project is running $14 million under budget, and classroom space in two new wings will be available for use this fall, school district officials say.
Phase 1 of the overall $137 million project was expected to cost $94 million but is on track to come in at $80 million, according to information provided at a recent Board of Education meeting.
“We had very favorable bids ... and most of them were under the expected amount,” said Thomas Clapper, the district’s director of buildings and grounds.
Clapper also said upgrades to the heating system in the Broadway campus’s main building and improvements to the Kate Walton Field House were completed earlier than expected.
Scheduled upcoming work includes renovations to the first floor of the Salzmann Building in January 2008, demolition of the Myron J. Michael Building in February 2018, restoration of turf outside of the field house in the summer of 2018 and the demolition of the Whiston-Tobin Building at a date to be determined.
The district is required to carry out the project in phases because of limits to the amount of aid that can be provided over five-year periods, but “we’ve actually petitioned the state to continue on and not have the ... five-year gap,” Clapper said.
He said the district is submitting to the state Department of Education “all the information and how much over the maximum cost allowance we’re asking for. We sent them a letter outlining in bullet points why we want to do this. There’s quite a bit of cost savings because we’ll probably shorten the project by about 18 months.”
District residents voted 2,265-2,082 in December 2013 to approve a $137.5 million project.