OPN updates board on middle school project

School Board
By: 
Pete Temple
Express Associate Editor

Updates on the progress of the new middle school project were presented to the Monticello School Board during its special meeting Sept. 11 in the Administrative Board Room. 

The board heard from Chad Schumacher, construction administrator for OPN Architects and for the Monticello Middle School project. 

Schumacher provided updates on what has happened so far, not only with the middle school, but also with the high school entrance, and site work. 

He also went over a change order summary that includes renovations not originally planned, totaling $166,237.10. Monticello Community School District Superintendent Brian Jaeger said this is not a concern. 

“We built in a contingency of $1.2 million for things that come up just like this,” Jaeger told the board. 

Schumacher said conditions of the EIFS (Exterior Insulation Finishing System) around the gym area of the high school will require repairs that total, at this point, $46,800. He said about 50 percent of the EIFS has been removed, and problems such as gaps that allow water to seep in behind the brick, which had been suspected, are being uncovered. 

Plans call for the EIFS to be replaced with metal panels. 

“That’s going to give you guys a much better envelope on your building for waterproofing, for weather and temperatures,” Schumacher said. “We’re going to start getting the waterproofer here in mid- September, and the metal panels will follow. 

“In the scheme of change orders, I feel really good about where you guys are at right now.” 

Schumacher also updated the board on other aspects of the project. The new administrative board room which will be adjacent to the high school entrance, is 90 percent complete. 

On site, some utilities have been relocated, the concession stand for the former softball field has been torn down, and dirt is being moved for a new parking area where the field was. 

“We’re hoping to pour that in late September or early October,” Schumacher said. 

The middle school is being built in three sections. Area B is the center section that will include the new gymnasium, locker rooms, classrooms and more. Foundations are complete and block walls are going up there, he said. 

Area A, the northernmost area that will connect to the high school and include the main office, will have its foundations complete in mid-September. 

And in Area C, footings and foundations have begun. 

As for the high school entrance, demolition is complete, and footings and foundations will begin soon, Schumacher said. 

In other board business: 

• The board approved a stadium seating plan at the new varsity softball field, which is the former “West Field” formerly used for youth baseball and softball. There will be three rows of stadium-style seats, seating 170 people, with a patio behind the third row for lawn chairs. 

The board approved the bid of Townsend Seating and Athletic Facility Enterprises of Urbandale to build the seating areas, at a cost of $35,543. The company, which earlier added extra steps and handrails to the football bleachers at Dean Nelson Field, will provide materials, delivery and installation. The district had allocated $500,000 for the softball fields project, and is still under budget, Jaeger said. 

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