Barrington Middle School campus to be renovated this summer

A $2.7 million contract has been awarded to Barrington-based Pepper Construction to renovate Barrington Middle School-Station Campus this summer.

The Barrington Unit District 220 school board this week approved Pepper's bid to serve as construction manager and oversee subcontractors it will select to do the renovation.

The board also bought $85,000 worth of the $100,000 of furniture budgeted for the renovation.

The total cost of construction, excluding furniture, is expected to top $3 million. The additional costs including architectural and engineering fees, moving costs and asbestos removal.

The entire project is expected to take about two months school ends in June. Pepper Construction will be fined $1,000 a day if it doesn't meet its Aug. 17 deadline.

The work includes roof maintenance, the enclosure of a courtyard and the reconfiguration of the media center and some corridors to improve the flow of people through the building.

School board President Brian Battle said some may find it ironic that the district is spending money on capital improvements while also looking at staff reductions.

But he said the community has made it clear that properly maintained buildings are a strong priority, particularly after issues of deferred maintenance and mold caused problems earlier in the decade.

"We are reducing our capital spending, but we still have capital spending and we should," Battle said.

Other board members suggested that taking advantage of the slow economy is a way to get such projects done at a lower cost.

Board member Jeff Nordquist wondered if approving the contract would automatically disqualify it from federal stimulus money earmarked for education.

Superintendent Tom Leonard said the district is keeping a close eye on possibilities for stimulus money. But while the Station Campus renovation has a rapidly approaching deadline, federal officials are still discussing how to stimulus money should be applied for.

The district is also considering a $12 million addition at Barrington Middle School-Prairie Campus for an early learning center.

Bids for that project, hoped to be completed for the 2010-11 school year, will be considered April 21.

District spokesman Jeff Arnett said the board may decide to defer the project at that time because of financial constraints. On the other hand, if bids come in lower than expected, it could prove both a cost-effective and economy-stimulating project, he added.

Either way, the early learning center is a project that's been in high public demand from the district, Arnett said.