Contracts OK’d for elementary schools and middle school.
By: Jeff Milgram
It’s five down and one to go.
By a unanimous vote, the Princeton Regional Board of Education approved contracts to renovate and expand the John Witherspoon Middle School and the district’s four elementary schools in a special meeting Tuesday night.
"This is an auspicious day," said board Vice President Anne Burns, who is also chairwoman of the Facilities Committee.
And the board has asked its architect, The Hillier Group, to look at the cost impact of reducing the size of the performing arts center at Princeton High School.
Both the board and the architect remain confident the cost of the PHS construction project can be reduced without sacrificing the district’s educational goals.
Awarding the contract for the middle school was somewhat of a surprise because the low bids came in at $18.9 million, about $1.1 million over budget.
The board felt it couldn’t trim the project without affecting the academic program.
"It was very close to referendum numbers," Ms. Burns said Wednesday. "Before we went out the second time for bids, we stripped that school of any excess."
The board will save about $500,000 because the bids for the elementary schools came in under budget and it hopes the rest of the money will come from savings at PHS.
The board awarded three sets of contracts Tuesday: the middle school; Community Park and Johnson Park schools; and Littlebrook and Riverside schools.
Hessert Construction Group of Cherry Hill will be the general contractor for the John Witherspoon project. A Hessert representative said construction could start within four or five weeks. The company also bid on construction of the Princeton Public Library and filed suit after its low bid and other bids were rejected because the library board decided to rebid the project. A Superior Court judge upheld the library’s award of a contract to another firm following a second round of bids.
The Community Park and Johnson Park contracts total $8.3 million and the Littlebrook and Riverside contracts total $9.2 million. Early estimates put each set of contracts at about $10 million, or $5 million for each school.
Fletcher-Harlee Corp. of Fort Washington, Pa., will be the general contractor for the Community Park and Johnson Park schools. Imperial Construction of Elizabeth will be the general contractor for Little Brook and Riverside schools.
In October, the board put the elementary and middle school projects out to bid. When the bids came back over budget, the board delayed putting the PHS project out to bid, revising the specifications to attract bidders.
The second round of bid openings took place Dec. 12, with the elementary projects coming in under budget, John Witherspoon coming in about $1.1 million over budget and PHS between $8 million and $13 million over budget.
The process was complicated by the fact that few general contractors bid on the projects.
On Jan. 7, Hillier presented the board with $15.4 million in design and engineering cost-saving measures for PHS. The board wants Hillier to come up with another $5 million in savings.
"The idea is to simplify and to retain the old and limit the new construction," Ms. Burns said.
The board wants Hillier to look at the impact of reducing the size of the performing arts center and its 850-seat auditorium.
On the surface, it would appear obvious that reducing the size of the auditorium would cut costs. But the problem is more complex because such a major design change might require the board to resubmit the project for state approvals, which would be time-consuming, Ms. Burns said.
"It’s a balancing act," she said.
Ms. Burns said the board was not comfortable with some of the ideas suggested by Hillier on Jan. 7, specifically a plan to use the $2 million in additional state aid the district was notified in September that it would receive. Ms. Burns said the board’s lawyer, David Carroll, said the district could not use the money to spend more than the $81.3 million approved by voters in May 2001.
The architects believe the redesign which cuts the amount of demolition work, increases the amount of renovation and reduces the construction schedule by more than a year will save $8 million. Another $7.4 million in savings would come from cutting back on items such as air conditioning in renovated classrooms. Other savings would come from letting contractors carry less insurance and keeping the computer infrastructure in the existing administrative wing.
The board is skeptical that the savings add up to $7.4 million.
Other potential cost-saving measures suggested by the board include:
Reducing the size of a new, dogleg-shaped science wing.
Retaining some of the school’s boilers, which are fairly new.
Installing a time-system for all thermostats.
Using room unit ventilators instead of ductwork for the air conditioning.
Hillier project manager Paul Pezzutti is optimistic the costs can be reduced without cutting into the educational program.
"We are clearly working closely with the board to make sure we will meet their objective,’ Mr. Pezzutti said after Tuesday’s meeting. "We’re confident that we will realize the savings necessary without cutting the educational program."

