OU Board of Regents approves hiring of construction manager
NORMAN — The OU Board of Regents voted Wednesday to approve the hiring of a construction manager for the softball facility and renovations to the Sam Viersen Gymnastics Center.
Funds are still being raised for the new softball facility, but hiring a construction manager is necessary to keep the project going, executive associate athletics director Larry Naifeh said.
"This allows us togo through some of those steps and continue t he preparation so when those funds are available we're ready to go," Naifeh said. ". . . This piece will help support that (fundraising) as it goes along instead of waiting and being six months behind on where we could be."
The construction manager develops the maximum pricing for the entire project, and after it is agreed upon, they are at- risk to complete the project at that maximum price, Naifeh said. The construction manager takes care of the bidding process and allows the project to be managed more efficiently.
The regents approved hiring of a manager from Oklahoma City-based Timberlake Construction. The company was ranked first in an evaluation of five firms interviewed for the job.
This is not a new process for athletic construction at OU. Several of the Gaylord FamilyOklahoma Memorial Stadium projects have
used a construction manager.
Naifeh said the softball and gymnastics projects were combined with the hope of consolidating some of the bids and work on both sites since they are close together.
"Softball is a brand new project. Gymnastics is a renovation and addition, but still they'll have a lot of the same different trades that are doing work, and this will allow us to combined some of those," Naifeh said.