Thumbnail photo by Heather Polen
Redwood School will be under construction for much of the summer and possibly into the fall as Del Norte Unified School District embarks on a $2.7 million modernization project.
Work will include reroofing four buildings as well as the school’s covered walkways, The school will be repainted and all the electric panels, feeders and main switchboards will be upgraded, according to a March 26 staff report from DNUSD Maintenance and Operations Director Josh McCubbin.
“The existing roofing systems on buildings A, F, G-L, N and the covered walkways have reached the end of their useful life and require replacement to prevent water intrusion, protect structural components and reduce the likelihood of costly emergency repairs that could disrupt school operations,” he stated.
Four trustees approved a contract with Adams Commercial General Contracting, of Eureka, whose representatives submitted the lowest base bid for the project at $2.71 million. Trustee Area 3 representative Frank Magarino was absent.
According to Assistant Superintendent of Business Greg Bowen, who spoke on behalf of McCubbin last week, Adams Commercial General Contractor will use local vendors such as Red Sky Roofing and Northridge Electric as sub contractors.
DNUSD will pay for the project from its modernization fund and seek reimbursement from the state Office of Public School Construction, Bowen said.
“We can get up to 60% back,” he said. “We do have the cash available in Fund 32 — we easily add 10 to 15% contingency on that number for change orders — so we are in a position to fund this 100%.”
DNUSD received three project bids. Trustee Area 5 representative Michael Greer pointed out that one company offered to do the project for about $3.9 million and asked what the difference was between the highest and the lowest bids.
Bowen said there’s a criteria companies have to meet when responding to a request for proposals from the school district, which is why “you do your due diligence and get as many bids as you can.”
According to the assistant superintendent, due to the size of the modernization project DNUSD is obligated to accept the lowest responsive bid.
Long-time Redwood School teacher Mary-Michelle Cupp thanked trustees for approving the project, which she said was long overdue. But she wanted to clarify that the work will be done outside the classrooms.
“Because 30 years ago when we did the first modernization, it was everything,” she said. “We had to pack our whole classrooms up, everything got in the gym and was stored for the summer.”
Bowen said it was his understanding that the project would be confined to the school’s exterior.
