Wentworth construction plan would cost $38.3M

Committee chairman says more will be cut before vote

SCARBOROUGH — In the months leading up to last week’s unveiling of a price tag to replace Scarborough’s Wentworth Intermediate School, the building committee’s chairman, Paul Koziell, promised over and over again it would ring up less than a similar proposal presented to voters in 2006.

True to his word, the dollar figure quoted at a special school board meeting July 7 was lower than 2006's $38.32 million bond request – by $8,390.

But, Koziell said, what’s currently in the check-out cart ($38,314,413) is likely to fall in the next couple of weeks, as the building committee takes its work before the Town Council.

"When we talk about numbers tonight, treat them as an outline, treat them as a ceiling," he told school directors last week. "Will we be able to get the number lower? Yes we will."

However, Koziell pointed out that that, if one looks at it a certain way, the current project is far lower than the 2006 proposal.

"Given inflation, that project would cost $42 million today," he said

However, that project also was larger – by 21,794 square feet. As drafted, the new Wentworth plan calls for a roughly 163,000-square-foot building.

In order to keep costs below the 2006 request, the 41-member building committee, which spent nine months putting ideas into the plan, has spent the last few days hacking some back out.

"A lot of real sharpening of the pencils has been done," said project architect Dan Cecil, of Auburn-based Harriman Associates. "In just the past two weeks, more than 9,000 square feet has been cut from the plan."

Cecil noted that the Wentworth project has costs that cannot be controlled, including $1.1 million that must be set aside for demolition of the current building. That cost includes removal of asbestos and lead paint.

“Not many projects that I’ve ever worked on have ever had demolition costs of that kind,” said Cecil.

Still, Koziell said, projections indicate that Wentworth is “right on target” for a project in which the architectural plans are 5 percent complete.

“Right now, we’re at $235 per square foot,” he said. “If you look at the market, if you look at other projects like this, we’re right in the zone.”

Recent cuts include two of four "team building" spaces for students, a K-12 testing room (which will now be housed at the high school), a curriculum meeting room and some kitchen facilities, among other room-size reductions. Replacing a geothermal heating scheme with a more conventional set-up also has saved $3.1 million in up-front capital, although it could potentially cost more in long-term heating and cooling costs.

On the positive side, no direct-instructional space has been cut and, although the design accommodates 800 students, instead of 900 in the 2006 plan, there is room to grow. Each of the 40 classrooms in the new building is expected to house 20 students, said Koziell, but could be pressed to serve 24, allowing enrollment to grow from its present level of 775 to as high as 960.

"This is a smart design," said Koziell.