Lincoln officials grapple with unreliable plans in high school renovation
Architects measuring existing building say it’s smaller than previously thought
LINCOLN – The square footage of Lincoln High School hasn’t magically changed. But architectural firm Symmes Maini & McKee Associates has determined, based on recent measurements, that the building is 25,327 square feet smaller than they initially believed.
And this has caused Town Administrator T. Joseph Almond some consternation as the Lincoln High School Stage II Study Committee moves forward with high school renovation plans.
“What can we do to be sure the numbers are correct?” he questioned. “Because they’ve changed three times.”
This was an issue when the cost subcommittee of the larger renovation committee met Tuesday evening to discuss the cost-estimating process and cost planning.
The committee was joined by SMMA Senior Vice President Ed Frenette and Delwyn Williamson, senior cost estimator with Daedalus Projects, Inc.
Stage 2 is due by Feb. 1, and the goal is for the bond to come before Lincoln residents in a special election held between next June and November. Construction is anticipated to begin in the 2019-20 school year.
The two biggest predictors of cost, Frenette noted, are the size of the building and when it will be built.
The size of the building is particularly relevant at this stage, considering the current master planning phase is focused on cost per square foot, Williamson said, whereas the focus on elements like ductwork and flooring will come later this year.
When SMMA submitted Stage 1 to the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE), it calculated that the existing building is 219,111 square feet, based on drawings available from the town.
But throughout master planning, SMMA staff began to suspect that much of the documentation was inaccurate. Based on spot measurements of the entire building, aerial photographs and reclassification of space from program to uninhabited, architects determined the complex to be 193,784 square feet.
Almond questioned how 25,327 square feet were lost, and Frenette said he would clarify that before the next meeting. The renovation committee has a meeting with the Town Council on Tuesday.
The estimated size after the renovation is 156,000 square feet, which includes non-educational space.
Another change from Stage 1, which RIDE approved in June, is the increase in addition space and decrease in renovations, based on RIDE’s requirement of an “apples to apples” comparison of alternatives.
The renovation committee has been required to consider options for an entirely new school, renovation with no new construction and a hybrid addition-renovation (addreno) plan. The committee prefers add-reno options, as new construction is more expensive and asset protection does not improve educational programming.
The update of the add-reno plan the committee selected in Stage 1 now features about the same amount of square footage for renovations and additions, whereas the original plan was closer to a 40:60 ratio of addition to renovation.
The change came in part because since Stage 1, SMMA has altered its plans so that no educational space is more than 15 percent undersized.
The increase in the percentage of the project that is additions means an increased cost.
Almond expressed concern that cost-wise, they’re getting close to the point where it might make more sense to build a new school, a point the committee was trying to avoid.
“I suspect someone’s going to say, ‘Well, why don’t you build a new school?’” he said.
Delwyn then gave him the cost estimates: $50 million for the selected add-reno plan, and $59 million for new construction.
According to Delwyn, the estimate for the selected addreno plan is now $50 million, while new construction would be $59 million.
Each figure would be for the construction bid, Frenette said, while 8-10 percent would need to be added for “soft costs” like furniture, testing and a project manager.