This summer, Warsaw Community Schools will have a facilities master plan developed to help it make decisions for the next 15 to 20 years.
Tuesday, the Warsaw School Board interviewed its top two architectural firms. Three architectural firms were interviewed May 14 by a committee of board members and administrators, who narrowed the selection down by one.
CSO Architects, Indianapolis, bid a base fee of $96,680 for the work, while Kovert Hawkins Architects Inc. bid $74,000.
The school board will make a decision Monday night.
Jamie Lake represented Kovert Hawkins Tuesday. Kovert Hawkins was the architectural firm that handled the elementary school building projects, which included new Madison and Leesburg elementaries and remodeling and expanding Jefferson and Claypool elementaries. Those started in 2007, with completion mostly done by fall 2010.
Lake said Kovert Hawkins has many years of experience, and were ready to go if selected.
“Obviously we want the job. We’ll start tomorrow,” he said.
Kovert did the last study for WCS, he said, but this is a different study. The last one was for a building project.
Jennifer Tandy, board president, asked Lake what experience Kovert had with “theme” schools. Lake said they have done a lot of science, technology, engineering and math schools. Most STEM-focused schools Kovert did were in Kentucky as Kentucky is three years ahead in the process.
Schools today are very technology driven. Even schools not flourishing like Warsaw, Lake said, are trying to be STEM oriented.
When asked by Tandy how many current total projects Kovert was working on, Lake said about 200 of different shapes and sizes. They range from roof leaks to new facilities.
Board member Delores Hearn asked if WCS had to have a referendum to do any major project, would Kovert provide help to show to the community why the project was necessary.
“Absolutely,” Lake said.
Deb Wiggins, board member, asked if Kovert was going to look at all of WCS’s buildings, facilities and campuses as part of its study. Lake responded in the affirmative, saying Kovert had people to look at each specific area.
The due date for the study is Aug. 17. Lake said Kovert could meet that.
Superintendent Dr. Craig Hintz asked both Lake and representatives of CSO if their fee was rebatable should it lead to a project that their architectural firm was selected for.
Lake said if the process leads to a project, then this process becomes a schematic design and would be rebatable.
“It just makes sense to do so,” Lake said. “Our fee is our fee. If we lose money on it, it’s because I didn’t quote you on a big enough fee. We’re hired on a project until we’re done. We have very little overhead and our biggest overhead is staff. The shortest amount of time anyone has been with us is 10 years.”
CSO Architects Chairman and CEO James A. Schellinger said 5 to 10 percent of it would be rebatable.
Schellinger was at the interview along with five other representatives of CSO.
If CSO is selected, Schellinger said CSO principal John E. Rigsbee would be the point person. However, they would have a senior manager for the elementary schools, one for the middle schools and one for the high school. Each of those guys would have a team that would work for them as well.
Schellinger said they work closely with personnel in each school. New schools in the 21st century can do so much more. While schools may be theme schools, it really is how they’re put into practice, he said, so CSO needs to work closely with the people who put it into practice.
CSO Associate Principal Rosemary W. Rehak said they know more about technology. They work to make schools more flexible and adaptable.
Tandy said, “As a board, we want to see a vision. How do you bring to us options in a package?”
Schellinger said, “I like to advocate a master plan where you dream big.”
Rigsbee said part of that is making the best use of what the schools already have.
Wiggins asked if CSO would review all of the corporation, including every building. Schellinger said they would.
Asked how many projects CSO was involved in, Schellinger said they had about 40 to 50 projects going on at a time. He personally is actively involved in four to five at a time. CSO focuses strictly on educational projects, he said.
Hearn asked if CSO would do community presentations on its findings. Schellinger said he would personally do it and it would be tailored to WCS.
