Board names NBTHS construction manager
Several phases will
mark adding space to
Raider Road school
NORTH BRUNSWICK — The Board of Education named Epic Group Inc., Piscataway, manager of the high school expansion.
"Epic has done work in many other districts, and they have been well-received," said board Secretary Marshall Sigall.
Voters approved the $29 million expansion for the school on Jan. 22.
The board is expecting an additional 450 students to enter the high school over the next five years, and the expansion should fit the projected amount of students, according to board member Robert Haws. The school is expected to see an addition of approximately 80,000 square feet.
State aid will cover $7.8 million of the total cost so the project will only cost the township approximately $22 million.
Sigall said that Epic will work very hard to get the project done in the expected time frame.
"They will try to get it done in the time frame," Sigall said. "If it does run over for up to two months, Epic will not charge us."
Haws said that he was most comfortable working with a firm like Epic.
"When we were looking at the scope of the project, we wanted somebody that would be with us every step of the way," Haws said. "A firm has much more capability. I feel that Epic stands above other firms."
After the architectural drawings are accepted by the state, the board will have to find a construction team to build the addition. This will require a bidding process. Sigall said he hopes to get the design process done in six months.
"We are hoping for the ground breaking in 2003," Sigall said. "We are still in the design phase. Once the design phase is finished we will move toward the ground breaking. The designs from the construction management company will be submitted to the state Department of Education and the Department of Community Affairs. We hope to have all of this completed in six months. The schematic drawings that had already been submitted are like rough drawings, while the designs are going to be detailed on how the building will be. We expect this phase to be done by early summer."
The first part of the construction, scheduled to begin in 2003, will include additions to the auditorium and shop. This will take about 16 months to complete, according to Rimmer. The other construction phase will start in April 2004 and will include six new classrooms. It is expected to take about 11 months.
There will be six different renovation phases for the high school. The first phase will be the building of the new media center, which is expected to take about 12 months. This is expected to begin in June of 2004. The next phase will be the installation of the business labs and foreign language labs, which is expected to take about 15 months and begin in September of 2004.
The next steps will include the installation of the cafeteria and driver education classrooms, expected to begin in July 2004; the science lab, second floor and classrooms, expected to begin in February 2005; and the administrative rooms and guidance office construction, expected to begin in January 2005.