Due to time constraints, Nanaimo school district will deviate from normal tendering procedures for expansion of Frank J. Ney Elementary School
A new wing for the school is needed by September 2018 in order to accommodate students from the Rutherford Elementary School closure. The district business committee recommends Low Hammond Rowe Architects Inc. for architectural design and Unitech Construction Management Inc. for construction management.
The school board voted to close Rutherford in December 2015 contingent on provincial government money for the expansion. The district was notified in late January the government would provide $1.3 million of the $5.7-million project.
Typically, the project is awarded and the district goes through the process of selecting an architect, said Pete Sabo, district director of planning and operations, at Wednesday’s meeting, but he estimates that a tender would have to go out in June to have the new wing operational for 2018-19 school year.
“Selection of a general contractor at this point allows us to have advice with respect to the tendering of the sub trades … perhaps tendering it in packages to help speed up the process,” said Sabo. “It also gives us advice with respect to different ways of economizing during the design, selecting materials that could speed up the design,” he said.
Carrie McVeigh, acting secretary-treasurer, said the district administration procedure on purchasing allows for varying methods of procurement based on issues such as urgency.
Low Hammond Rowe, then known as Chow and Fleischauer, was involved with Frank Ney construction and was a prime consultant in a project investigation report for the site. Unitech was involved with Wellington Secondary seismic upgrades.
The recommendations will be voted on at the district’s meeting on Feb. 22.