Fox Hill Elementary Project Advances Through State Process

Burlington is inching closer to having a new Fox Hill Elementary School.

The Building Committee will be sending the 60% construction documents to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) – the state agency that distributes reimbursements for eligible school building projects – for their approval by the end of this week. Those documents will include a total project budget of around $100 million, with a construction budget of around $80 million. A portion of this will be reimbursed via the MSBA building replacement program.

Budget estimates from two independent firms are coming in below the initial projected numbers. "What we submit to the MSBA will still carry the same total project budget number," said Andrea O'Toole of Owner's Project Manager, Dore & Whittier. "The numbers came in favorably, and we do have some savings from the last estimate, which we will carry in project contingency."

The process of prequalification for potential contractors is underway, with four general contractors and a number of subcontractors in the pipeline. In the next month, they'll be reviewing and scoring the applicants to determine if they're eligible before inviting qualified contractors to submit bids for the project.

During a conversation about the the roofing material that will be used for the media center, Steve Brown, also from Dore & Whittier, gave some insight into the process for securing bids, recommending the committee have a wish list they can expand or contract based on the actual bids that come in.

"Depending on favorable or unfavorable news on bid date, you could elect to deduct or add these depending on what the results of the bid were," he said. "We strongly recommend having a series of alternates just in case you're either just above or just below the project budget...to make sure you can award the project."

Vivian Low from design firm, DiNisco Design, urged the committee to avoid changing too much about the project design at this point, as major changes to the design and detail can present complications with respect to the assembly and construction details included in the construction documents.

Next up: the project management team will continue with the prequalification process, and the design team will shift focus to the 90% construction documents. Once the design is 100% complete, the project will go out to bid, probably in November. According to Committee Chair, Melissa Massardo, construction will begin next spring.