KHS Tower Behind Construction Schedule

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Brianna Gibbs/KMXT
A portion of the Kodiak High School renovation and addition project is slightly behind schedule these days. That’s the word from construction manager Bruce Walter of Wilson Engineering. Walter presented an update on the high school project during the borough assembly’s work session on Thursday. He said the four-story classroom tower is running behind schedule and will not be ready by the August 1 deadline.
That phase of the project now enters what Walter calls “Plan B.” He said the goal of Plan B will be to ensure that students and teachers can resume classes like normal next fall.
“And the only way to accomplish that is to not give the contractor a portion of what’s called Area B, which is the second floor above the existing cafeteria and library.”
Walter said that whole section of the building was supposed to be handed over to the contractor on June 1, but now they will hold that area back to keep those classrooms functioning and buy time for the completion of the tower.
“So the new revised date to move in to the tower is October 1.”He said the hope is to make the move over the course of a weekend or two so the contractor will be able to begin work on the renovation of Area B as soon as possible.
Assemblywoman Carol Austerman asked Walter if there has been communication with teachers in that area of the high school, and he said they are aware of these delays and are prepping for what the transition might look like next fall. At the same time, Walter said the nuts and bolts of Plan B haven’t been fully hashed out, but once they are both school district and borough staff will be notified.
Overall, he said the delay shouldn’t impact the borough financially and is the contractor who will take the hit.
“If we gave him Area B on time, and we had this two month delay, the cost impacts to the borough would be staggering. There would be teachers probably getting paid to stay home. I don’t even know where the kids would go to school. It would be catastrophic.”
Walter said the delay is actually more of a modification to the phasing schedule because the contractor believes the overall project can still be completed on time.