Bellefonte Area School District restarts its elementary building project with architect hire
After postponing the Bellefonte Area School District elementary building project in November, the board of directors selected an architectural firm Tuesday to help the district decide whether to renovate or consolidate its elementary schools.
The board was supposed to vote on a firm during its Feb. 11 meeting, but due to lack of consensus, Hunt Engineers and Architects and SitelogIQ presented additional information to the board last week. In a 6-3 vote on Tuesday, Hunt was retained at a cost of $59,400 to determine the practicality of making renovations to the elementary schools — Bellefonte, Benner, Pleasant Gap and Marion-Walker — or constructing a new building that could result in consolidation.
Board members Rodney Musser, Mark Badger and Kristen Bruckner voted against the firm, saying SitelogIQ offered the same package but at nearly $50,000 less.
A 2017 feasibility study of all four elementary schools — which cost $25,000 — identified Bellefonte Elementary as needing the most and costliest of renovations. Benner and Pleasant Gap elementary schools followed close behind, meaning they will need to be replaced or renovated in the next five to 10 years. To gauge community concern, the district held a series of “listening meetings” last year, but later postponed the project to reassess the timeline and engage more with residents.
“The firms are going to want to have their own data because they have to go to the community and be able to talk,” board member Jeff Steiner said, adding that the district is going to need more information before the board makes a final decision. “(SitelogIQ) came in at $9,750, which to me, the price load is disqualifying. It does not begin to provide the services that we need for what we need to do on this project.”
By working with a firm to assess the buildings, consult administrators and engage with community members, board members thought Hunt’s process was more refined, easier to understand and would help the district make an informed decision when deciding to renovate or consolidate.
“We paid $25,000 for a study four years ago, and we are wanting that — plus more detail, plus community engagement for half of that,” said board member Donna Smith.
According to the district’s request for proposal, the firm selected to spearhead the predesign phase “will not be eligible to bid on the design phase of the elementary project,” but Steiner said SitelogIQ’s proposal included components that were “leaning into the second phase of the project.”
“The proposal that they put forward to the district ... was counter to what we said we wanted them to do and included them saying they were going to do things that our RFP said they would not be able to do if they were the accepted firm,” Steiner said. “They missed the mark.”
Some board members also had concerns about the history of the company within the district.
Formerly named Reynolds Construction, SitelogIQ managed the Rogers Stadium renovation project that experienced a series of delays, and board members said they did not want to risk another delayed project.
“While I understand that one side is construction and the other is design, the project management side left little to be desired, and I do not want a repeat of the stadium,” board member Kimberly Weaver said. “I am making this decision not based solely on the price tag. I am choosing Hunt because I believe they will do a better job with this project. I believe that Hunt will not give us a haphazard, second-rate, quickly produced product.”
Preferring SitelogIQ — “the cheaper option” — Badger and Bruckner said Hunt’s proposal didn’t justify “spending an additional $50,000,” and Musser said he wouldn’t “hold them hostage” for the stadium project.
“We still are further ahead in the stadium over a year and a half of that period than we currently are in getting an architect,” he said. “It’s taken us over a year to get to this ... I don’t condemn either one of them, but I am cognizant of the price.”
But the majority of board members were drawn to Hunt’s proposal, specifically its plan to engage with community members and focus on what the district requested in its RFP.
“$50,000 is a drop in the bucket on a $30 million project,” board president Jon Guizar said. “If you can’t bring the community along with you and come to a consensus of what the community would support, we can have all the ideas that we want to hear, but it’s not going to go.”
Under Hunt’s proposal, the firm will conduct a walk-through of each elementary building and present the initial phase of the study by March 20. Three public meetings and presentations will be held, and the firm will attend two school board meetings to deliver presentations about the project.
