Presented with $252K change order

Members of the Andalusia Board of Education are requesting a meeting with the architect who designed renovations a Andalusia High School after they learned a change order in the original contract would add $252,000 to the project cost.

Architect Chuck Jones of Goodwyn Mills and Cawood designed the project.

Brian Ray of Wyatt Sasser Construction told board members that a change in plans to make a concrete path from the athletic facility to the field, and adding two handicapped parking spaces near the pressbox will cost $252,000.

Ray said the change in the original plan was altered by the architect after the board said it wanted to add a path, and that the state building commission has stamped the plan.

“Now, the project won’t be (considered) complete unless this is done,” Ray said, adding that any change in the plan would have to be approved by the state building commission.

But board members said they aren’t comfortable moving forward, given the added expense.

Board member Dr. David McCalman said, “From Day 1, we didn’t want this. Before it went to the building commission, we were told it would not be a problem.

“This is a very, very, very significant dollar mistake,” he said. 

Originally, it was estimated the cost of adding concrete path from the facility to the field would cost $40,000. However, the slope is so steep, the path has to be longer so that it is compliant with Americans with Disabilities standards.

The board also questioned a $15,000 change order for the auditorium roof.

Superintendent Ted Watson was asked to set up a meeting between board members, the architect, and the contractor to try to determine a less expensive alternative.

To date, the board has spent more than $9 million on the renovations.

The original base project was estimated at $9.39 million, with 11 alternatives which were estimated to total an additional $3 million.

“We’ve put everything in there we could think of, and $12 million is the most it could ever be,” Jones told the board of education last December.