Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
COLFAX –– The Colfax school construction project is in its final stage, stretching past its target date for completion of August 2020.
District Superintendent Jerry Pugh said on Oct. 30 that there is another week or two of electrical work at the junior-senior high school, the gym is being professionally cleaned, and speakers and the stereo system is being installed.
It is part of the bond-funded project’s “punch list” of final items as deemed by Pugh and Amy Browne-Minden, the project manager from Design West in Pullman.
“Within the next week or two, we should see that building substantially complete,” said Pugh. “And, some use of the gym.”
The $18.9 million remodeling and construction began at spring break in 2019.
Missing the end goal is attributed to a few factors.
“COVID had its issues,” said Pugh. “Subcontractors had to quarantine employees for two weeks, the compact laminate supply chain, for one, was disrupted due to COVID cases, I heard a lot about that.”
Change orders added up, accounting for unforeseen discoveries in buildings and items missed during planning.
Paying for the added work comes out of a contingency fund of nearly $800,000. It represents 4% of the overall budget.
One of the discoveries was the condition of the side baskets in the high school gym. When subcontractors were up working on the lights, they saw that the side baskets’ support structures were bent.
It led to the decision to replace each of the baskets with their own motor. The original single motor for two baskets design created too much torque, bending the frameworks.
The process included bringing in the project’s structural engineer to design a new system.
Other “punch list” items were done in line with the district’s stated goal that once finished, all of the project’s features would last at least 30 years.
More asbestos was also found in the buildings and addressed.
“Our promise was asbestos will not be a worry,” said Pugh.
In other work, the gym fire alarms were tested last week, shot clocks mounted on backboards and the original bleachers refurbished and reinstalled.
If any money is leftover from the $18.9 million, it will go into the school district’s capital projects budget, where it could later be used for items such as re-paving the high school parking lot or fixing or replacing a broken boiler.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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