School district facilities project in schematic design phase

Community meetings January 29 and February 1

By Kendra Walker 

The Gunnison Watershed School District is working on schematic designs for its $95 million facilities improvements project, and over the next several weeks will take a deeper dive to refine the scope to align with the budget and begin design development. 

John Usery and Chris Guarino of Artaic Group, the Gunnison Watershed School District’s owner’s representative, shared a monthly update on the facilities improvements project with the school board during their January 15 meeting.

Guarino explained that there are four phases of the design process: conceptual, schematic, design development and construction documents. The district is currently in the schematic phase. “We encourage everyone to dream big during schematic design and capture all the needs and wants and designs,” said Guarino.

However, the schematic design pricing has come in over project budget as expected, he said. Guarino did not disclose by how much, but the group will now take a closer look to adjust accordingly over the next several weeks. 

“Now we will refine the scope to align with the budget. We will take a deeper dive with FCI, your general contractor, TreanorHL, your architect, and the executive committee that includes representatives from your leadership at the school district,” said Guarino. “We will learn what turns we have to take to get to the end goal and identify a scope of alternatives to come in under budget that will then push the team into design development.”

Guarino told the board that they will provide an update on pricing at the January 29 school board meeting. The district will hold two community meetings to review the project designs, one on January 31 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Gunnison High School and the second on February 1 from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Crested Butte Community School.

He also shared that they are pursuing two Colorado Department of Education BEST grants for the project, one for HVAC mechanical improvements at Crested Butte Community School and Gunnison Community School, and another for district-wide security improvements. Guarino said the BEST grant prioritizes applicants focusing on health, safety and technology, followed by overcrowding, and they will do everything they can to define the district’s deficiencies and explain the urgency to be as competitive as possible. 

HVAC improvements at CBCS would include replacing end-of-life equipment, air handling units, boilers and VAV systems from 1997. To address security, Guarino said they are requesting new interior push lock buttons, new CCTV cameras and monitoring software and door monitors. 

Usery said if they are awarded both grants, they anticipate receiving approximately $5 million total. The anticipated project budget for the HVAC improvements will range from $7.5 million to $12.5 million, and the security improvements will cost between $700,000 and $2.1 million. The BEST grant applications are due February 5, and the district will now begin circulating requests for letters of support with community stakeholders. The district will find out if it receives any BEST funding in June. 

Usery and Guarino also clarified that the cost estimates from the schematic design will not include the potential grant money, and if awarded the grants, they will consider it bonus money that will allow the district to fund other dreams and wants in the design.