<p>Center Grove schools will spend millions of dollars more than it originally estimated on a natatorium facility that will include an Olympic-sized swimming pool.</p>
<p>The nearly 32 percent increase in the expected construction cost is due to the amount of construction taking place in the Indianapolis area, which allows companies to increase their prices, assistant superintendent Bill Long said.</p>
<p>In January, the Center Grove school board approved a form of agreement between the school district and Indianapolis-based architecture firm Fanning/Howey Associates. The agreement included an approximate construction cost of $17.6 million and an estimated completion date of April 2021. Construction was slated to begin earlier this year in the spring, according to school officials.</p>
<p>The school board approved a bid package for $23.2 million earlier this month, $5.6 million more than originally projected. With the bid package now approved, construction could begin before the end of the month, Long said.</p>
<p>The expected completion date is now June 2021. Center Grove schools accepted bids earlier this year for construction companies to be hired to start moving utilities before the construction began, but no companies bid on the work, Long said.</p>
<p>The natatorium is part of a larger high school renovation project that the school is going into $45 million of debt to complete, money the district will pay back during the next 20 years with property tax dollars. Along with the natatorium, Center Grove schools plans to add new classrooms with flexible furniture, new carpeting and walls and LED lights. The money will also be used to improve safety with security barriers, additional video surveillance, emergency messaging, door monitors and security screening.</p>
<p>The school district hasn’t finalized details for the rest of the high school renovation project, but will have to keep the total cost of the natatorium and renovations for the rest of the school within that $45 million mark, Long said.</p>
<p>The cost of a building project can drift from original expectations because of a volatile construction climate, he said.</p>
<p>“We do the first round of estimates based on conceptual drawings, and continue to develop those until we’re ready to go. Then, we’re at the mercy of the construction climate. Now, construction is booming and now it costs a whole lot more than it did two to three years ago when we started doing Walnut Grove, back then (the project) came in underbid,” Long said.</p>
<p>“This time, we talked to people that said ‘we’re too busy to bid on your project.’ Then, you tend to get higher bids because they don’t have time to do the work.”</p>
<p>Gibraltar Construction Corp. was hired for the biggest chunk of the work and will be paid $8.1 million for site work and general construction.</p>
<p>Fanning/Howey remains the project manager. Eight different construction firms will work on the project, which was split into different packages, such as a structural steel package, a roofing package and general trades and site work.</p>
<p>What was originally going to be a zero-depth entry therapy pool will now have a wheelchair ramp so students with disabilities can get in and sit on the ledge around the pool. Other than that, the natatorium will have the same features as Center Grove schools and Fanning Howey originally planned, Long said.</p>
<p>Along with the Olympic-sized swimming pool and the therapy pool, the natatorium will have locker rooms and support spaces at the deck level, which include a classroom, storage room and areas for scorers and their equipment. The facility will also include upper level spectator seating for up to 1,100 people, public restrooms, concessions, controlled access to the high school and site improvements in areas that connect the pool to the building, including sidewalks and entries, according to the January agreement between Fanning/Howey and Center Grove.</p>[sc:pullout-title pullout-title="By the numbers" ][sc:pullout-text-begin]<p>Eight construction companies will work on the natatorium for a total bid package of $23.2 million</p>
<p><ul><li>Site work and general trades;Gibraltar Construction Corp.;$8.1 million</li><li>Precast;Coreslab Structures Inc.;$1.7 million</li><li>Structural steel;Geiger and Peters Inc.;$1.9 million</li><li>Roofing;Insley Systems Inc.;$756,000</li><li>Pool;RL Turner Corp.;$4.8 million</li><li>Fire suppression;Brown Sprinkler Corp.;$137,500</li><li>Mechanical (HVAC and plumbing);Greiner Brothers Inc.;$3.9 million</li><li>Electrical;Banta Electrical Contractors Inc.;$1.8 million</li></ul></p>[sc:pullout-text-end]
