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Romeoville Schools
Getting an Education In Design-Build
by Craig Barner
A $50 million K-8 school project in southwest suburban Romeoville
offers a lesson in the economics of design-build.
Money was saved on the project that involved two schools,
Beverly Skoff Elementary School and John Lukancic Middle School.
The two are combined in a single, 250,000-sq.-ft. structure
on a 40-acre campus. (Skoff and Lukancic were, respectively,
a former teacher and administrator in Valley View Community
Unit School District 365U, where the schools are located.)
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Savings were realized in part because of the flexibility
of the design-build project delivery process to react to market
conditions, said Ray Prokop, vice president and project director
of Darien-based Wight Construction, the design-builder.
Generally, changing architectural plans on a design-build
project is easier than it is on a traditional design-bid-build
project because the same company is responsible for the architecture
and construction.
Originally, plans called for Skoff-Lukancic to be framed in
structural steel with brick in-fill, Prokop said. In 2004,
when the project was in design and initial construction, steel
prices were volatile and occasionally rising rapidly.
"We went out for bid packages and had unit prices for
steel," Prokop said. "It was way beyond the budget."
Indeed, when the structural-steel bids came in, they were
about $1.1 million over the budget, he added.
As a result, a redesign was done, and the new budget-satisfying
plans called for structure to be load-bearing masonry with
some structural steel.
Additional savings might have been realized because of the
decision to combine the two schools in one facility, though
the savings have not been formally established.
However, a savings of $800,000 to $1.2 million was confirmed
for a different client of Wight-the school district in west
suburban St. Charles, Ill.-with a similar-size project in
early 2005 that involved a connected elementary and middle
school vs. separate facilities, said Bradley Paulsen, director
of Wight's K-12 education practice. The savings derive in
part from having one utility feed, mechanical plant, kitchen
and similar items, rather than two each.
Gary Grizaffi, assistant superintendent for administrative
services for District 365U, praised design-build for the problem-solving
mentality it fostered.
"You got the construction manager under the same roof
[as the architect] and the same operational procedures vs.
having an architect and going through all the planning,"
he said. "There are no pointing fingers."
Construction on Skoff started in August 2004, and it opened
the following August.
Lukancic started in January 2005 and opened last month.
Other Benefits
Another design-build benefit is that space can be quickly
reorganized when the needs of a school district suddenly change.
For example, some pod spaces in Skoff-Lukancic were originally
planned for team teaching, but the school district decided while
construction was under way that more computer laboratories and
teacher planning areas were needed. As a result, a redesign
was implemented.
"That, to me, is the big advantage of design-build: We
can react to an owner's needs quickly," Prokop added.
And, less than two months before overall project completion
in August, more space was sought for the district's Read 180
program, which is aimed at improving reading skills. The change
had electrical implications for the construction crews because
computers are heavily used in Read 180.
Time was saved on the project in part because of good fortune.
The prototype for two other elementary schools in the Valley
View district, Kenneth Hermanson and Pioneer, was adopted for
Skoff, allowing work to begin quicker. The prototype was modified
slightly because Skoff is larger and attached to the middle
school.
Yet, the schedule was "intense," said Mark Winger,
project manager for Wight.
Several elements were implemented to ensure the progress was
made, including using overtime selectively. In addition, multiple
superintendents and a mechanical, electrical and plumbing engineer
were frequently onsite to push the trade contractors to get
work done.
Population Explosion
Explosive population growth in the southwest suburbs was the
motivating factor behind the project.
Since 2000, enrollment has risen almost 50 percent in District
365U, to 17,972 pupils in the 2005-06 school year, the district's
Grizaffi said. In the coming school year, enrollment is expected
to be just shy of 19,000.
Skoff-Lukancic will open with an enrollment of approximately
1,350 but has a capacity for 1,900.
The schools form an H with Lukancic on the east and Skoff on
the west. In between are shared facilities, such as cafeteria,
gymnasia and courtyard.
Skoff-Lukancic will have all the traditional facilities of a
school in a vibrant middle-class suburb, including classrooms,
laboratories, music rooms and auditorium.
Winger said the two schools have about 120 rooms.
Most of the building is one floor, but some learning pods
have two levels.
The three-tone brick schools feature earthy colors and reflect
soil of the northern Illinois prairie.
Putting It Together
Close coordination was required on the project, including
phasing.
For example, the mainframe was located in Lukancic but serves
both schools. As a result, it was constructed, temporarily protected,
served with power and online by August 2005 so that Skoff had
technology, intercom and other services even though the immediate
area around the mainframe was not complete.
In addition, ensuring the safety of the children at Skoff while
Lukancic was under construction was critical.
The construction area was fenced off, the double doors that
connect the two sides was boarded up and flagging and caution
signs were put up. The site was graded, and a retention pond
and inlets were added to ensure proper runoff.
"We also phased sections of the middle so we could do
punch lists in phases, rather than all at once," Winger
said. "The client was not inundated with all the rooms
at once."
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