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Bidding Open Soon for Shannock Valley Renovation Project

Reynolds Building Solutions Project Development Director Michael Conchilla updated Armstrong School District board directors last night about renovations to Shannock Valley Elementary School this summer. Bidding documents will go into the hands of prospective contractors this Friday.

by Jonathan Weaver

Bid documents for the upcoming Shannock Valley Elementary renovation project will be released to interested contractors by the end of this week.

Reynolds Building Solutions Program Development Director Mike Conchilla updated Armstrong School District board directors during last night’s regular meeting on more updates proposed for the electrical and plumbing systems and the kitchen as part of the approximately $10.5 million project.

“We’ve been working pretty the past four or five weeks to try and make this a reality,” Conchilla said.

Destructive testing confirmed Conchilla’s notions on plumbing.

“Quite a bit of that pipe’s going to have to be replaced. Most of that pipe is in a crawl space now, made out of galvanized steel, and the sanitary piping is just not going to hold up for very much longer,” Conchilla said. “There are a lot of repairs as it stands now. We’re going to replace that along with supply piping as well.”

Plumbing upgrades would include new bathroom fixtures, drinking fountains and water piping where needed after inspection.

In addition to replacing first-floor ceilings, contractors will work to put more kitchen equipment in a space previously occupied by boiler room space.

“We’ve gone through and done some more investigation and design on that, and feel more confident that this can be a reality,” Conchilla said. “There’s going to be a lot more room in there now since the boiler system and parts of the steam system are going to be removed, and we’re going to build that out so we can move a cooler and freezer into that space so it’s directly-accessible from the kitchen.”

Other major upgrades include a security vestibule at the front of the building, air conditioning and an ADA-accessible elevator.

Compared to the December estimate, the total building cost – including both hard construction costs and soft costs - actually was reduced by about $45,000.

However, Conchilla told board directors that if more cutbacks are needed, engineers can recommend

“The hardest part about that is that I don’t think we’re impacting anything that isn’t needed,” Conchilla said. “It comes down to a matter of priority.”

Flooring and casework upgrades are also alternate upgrades.

Limited construction is due to start during Spring Break in April.

In other school board action last night, school directors did unanimously, 8-0, approve IKM, Inc. of Pittsburgh as their architect firm for the new Armstrong Junior/Senior High School stadium that will be hopefully open for the Fall sports season.

Armstrong School District | jweaver January 10, 2017