Projected costs for Mount Vernon School District’s planned new Mustang Activities Complex have risen substantially due to inflation and will likely need to be trimmed, Superintendent Greg Batenhorst said at a school board work session Monday, Aug. 8.
This past May, the school board approved $6.25 million for the project, including everything planned for it. At that time, the estimated cost of the complex was $5.7 million. In the last month, though, prices have risen, and the entire project if built now would cost $6.599 million.
“Is this the lowest (price) from now on?” asked Batenhorst at the work session.
“Prices usually don’t come down,” project engineer Loren Hoffman said.
Project costs have increased 18.5 percent since a November 2021 estimate, Batenhorst said. Over 12 percent of the increase is in building cost, with additional increases in supplies.
For example, in the last two years, estimates from bleacher suppliers have gone up 140 percent, including a price rise of 18 percent since this past November . Even cement mix, whose price is usually stable for an entire year, this year uncharacteristically increased six percent in mid-year.
In addition, the district has added enhancements to the project since planning began, so it could “do the project right,” Batenhorst said. These include:
• a combined ticket booth/merchandise booth
• a scoreboard with audio enhancements
• expanded trail lighting, similar to the Wellness Center
• increased size of the concession stand and rest room
• improved exterior of the park to make it easier to maintain an accessible route on the exterior
• upgraded stationary goal posts to movable goal posts
• added an extra shot put area that wasn’t originally planned
During discussion at the Aug. 8 meeting, school board members agreed they would really like to keep in the plans everything already planned for the project.
They said, though, that they could live with putting off some of the amenities, if necessary due to higher than expected construction costs, until more funds could be raised to complete the project. They noted that targeted fundraising for specific amenities could be done closer to the construction date to bring in funds for them.
TimetableAn internal planning meeting was scheduled to take place this past Tuesday, Aug. 16, to consider– with a floor of $6.25 million for the project–the maximum dollar amount the district could put into the project, what items would work best in the project, what would be the best approach, and what in the project could be reduced.
After that, additional discussion will be held with the school board.
By August 29, the project’s specifications and cost are expected to be firmed up. The board will hold a special session on that date to approve the filing of the plans and project specifications in order to allow the project to go out for the bidding process.
The school board will also conduct a public hearing regarding the project during its regular meeting on Sept. 12, 2022.
The project will then be put out for bid, which will take a month.
The bids will be due back to the district by 11:00 a.m. on October 7. When the district gets the exact bid number, it will then decide what to do with the project.