New school plans
Connecting buildings could save $1-million
Thursday, November 23, 2006
By SEAN CASEY
ThisWeek Staff Writer
Pickerington school officials are considering connecting two of the three buildings voters approved the construction of this month.
In a meeting with representatives from the district's architectural and construction management firms Monday morning, school administrators asked for a feasibility assessment for physically connecting the elementary and middle schools planned for a site at Tollgate and Refugee roads.
Throughout the campaign for a $59.9-million bond issue that passed in this month's general election, the school board stated the district would build two of the three new schools the issue will fund on the same parcel in order to save money on site preparation and infrastructure development. However, by actually joining the elementary and middle school, the district could reduce project estimates significantly more by sharing building mechanical systems and amenities.
According to Ruscilli Construction Co. Inc., the district's construction manager, the project could net as much as $1-million in savings compared to building two independent structures.
Andrew Maletz, the lead architect for the project, said he would have renderings of a combined building ready for review at a school board work session scheduled for Dec. 18.
There is a local precedent for such a project. Maletz' firm, Steed Hammond Paul Inc., has designed a conjoined school complex for the Marysville district. The schools function separately, with their own administration, hallways and cafeterias, but they access the same utility services, common spaces and kitchen.
A joint building would also not be too much of a departure from the last school campus Pickerington constructed.
''The big difference is instead of having the schools 400 feet apart, like Lakeview (Junior High School) and (Pickerington High School) North, they would be just 50 feet apart,'' board member Wes Monhollen said.
Board members are concerned that one large school building might generate a negative reaction, but the financial advantages are hard to ignore, Monhollen said.
''My whole thing is with the dollars,'' he said. ''It it looks like a palace but is cheaper, I'm fine with that.''
Board President Lisa Reade added that such an educational duplex would build flexibility into the district's housing stock, better preparing Pickerington to address any future space shortages. The third school the bond issue will fund is an elementary school planned for land near the Villages at Sycamore Creek subdivision.
Steed Hammond Paul has already produced blueprints for this project, and the district will put out requests for bids on site-preparation work as soon as the Ohio School Facilities Commission approves the plans, which is expected to occur in the next few weeks.
Tony Ruscilli of Ruscilli Construction said the school could open 14 months after construction commences.
Connecting buildings could save $1-million
Thursday, November 23, 2006
By SEAN CASEY
ThisWeek Staff Writer
Pickerington school officials are considering connecting two of the three buildings voters approved the construction of this month.
In a meeting with representatives from the district's architectural and construction management firms Monday morning, school administrators asked for a feasibility assessment for physically connecting the elementary and middle schools planned for a site at Tollgate and Refugee roads.
Throughout the campaign for a $59.9-million bond issue that passed in this month's general election, the school board stated the district would build two of the three new schools the issue will fund on the same parcel in order to save money on site preparation and infrastructure development. However, by actually joining the elementary and middle school, the district could reduce project estimates significantly more by sharing building mechanical systems and amenities.
According to Ruscilli Construction Co. Inc., the district's construction manager, the project could net as much as $1-million in savings compared to building two independent structures.
Andrew Maletz, the lead architect for the project, said he would have renderings of a combined building ready for review at a school board work session scheduled for Dec. 18.
There is a local precedent for such a project. Maletz' firm, Steed Hammond Paul Inc., has designed a conjoined school complex for the Marysville district. The schools function separately, with their own administration, hallways and cafeterias, but they access the same utility services, common spaces and kitchen.
A joint building would also not be too much of a departure from the last school campus Pickerington constructed.
''The big difference is instead of having the schools 400 feet apart, like Lakeview (Junior High School) and (Pickerington High School) North, they would be just 50 feet apart,'' board member Wes Monhollen said.
Board members are concerned that one large school building might generate a negative reaction, but the financial advantages are hard to ignore, Monhollen said.
''My whole thing is with the dollars,'' he said. ''It it looks like a palace but is cheaper, I'm fine with that.''
Board President Lisa Reade added that such an educational duplex would build flexibility into the district's housing stock, better preparing Pickerington to address any future space shortages. The third school the bond issue will fund is an elementary school planned for land near the Villages at Sycamore Creek subdivision.
Steed Hammond Paul has already produced blueprints for this project, and the district will put out requests for bids on site-preparation work as soon as the Ohio School Facilities Commission approves the plans, which is expected to occur in the next few weeks.
Tony Ruscilli of Ruscilli Construction said the school could open 14 months after construction commences.
