Klamath Falls, Ore. – A project to renovate Klamath Union High School is running more than 40% over budget.
A bond measure passed in 2014 estimated costs for rebuilding Klamath Union High School at 34 million dollars, but those estimates have mushroomed to 50 million dollars.
Concerned parent Margaret Adam said, “Such a huge margin of error regarding the bids, that doesn’t seem like good business.”
About 90 people were at a meeting Thursday night to discuss what happened. Architect Scott Rose said it’s a combination of several factors, including a limited number of bids, and a complex project. As a result, the project is back on the drawing board.
“The project team is really focused on redesigning the project,” said Jason Stranberg of Adroit Construction. He added, “We’re looking at a lot of ways to re-utilize more of the existing structure.” But, that will delay completion of the project.
“It was supposed to be done for my daughter’s senior year, and I’m concerned about what’s going to happen next year” said parent Christy Cox.
The architect stressed that construction will be completed on budget.
Scott Rose of DLR said, “The project that we are providing is the same project that they promised the voters before the bond. What we’re doing is looking at a different way to accomplish the same goals.”
Once the designs are re-tooled, the projects will go back out for bid – most likely in March or April. Construction is expected to continue through 2017.
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