FREDERICKTOWN — Not all school building projects funded by the Ohio School Facilities Commission result in the headaches caused by construction snafus at the Knox County Career Center.
Fredericktown students will be starting school in a brand new high school/middle school facility built onto the fairly new elementary school. According to Superintendent Dan Humphrey, “We have had an outstanding relationship with OSFC, our construction manager, architect and all contractors.
“From the beginning we have had no major issues, contractors have worked well together and the quality of workmanship has been outstanding,” he said. “We have some issues that still need to be addressed, but that happens in any construction project.”
Humphrey said some tweaking of air compressors is continuing, but the extra work is not costing the district anything.
Humphrey said the key to the project’s success was an open line of communication among all parties. Monthly core team meetings, which included an OSFC representative, school officials and construction management personnel, allowed issues to be addressed before they became insurmountable problems.
“The Ohio School Facilities commission worked with the construction management firm,” Humphrey said, “and the school district to work out details regarding funding, and we came in under budget and the building was completed on time.”
The first phase of the project, completed in 2003, was paid for with local dollars and the general contractor, Imhoff, served as the construction manager. Humphrey said having a separate construction manager for the second phase, as required by OSFC, made things much easier than with Phase 1.
Our construction manager for the majority of the project was Chris Friend of Turner Construction,” said Humphrey. “Chris was dynamite. He was on site at 6:30 a.m. and did not leave until the last contractor left at the end of the day. He had an outstanding relationship with each of the contractors and there was mutual respect. He was easy-going, but when he had to be firm, he was firm.”
Fredericktown’s liaison from architectural firm MKC was Fredericktown resident Neil Turner, who was very responsive to contractors’ questions, Humphrey said. He was involved with weekly construction meetings, which included prime contractors and district representatives, and helped facilitate communication among the parties.
Humphrey said the district’s relationship with OSFC has generally been positive.
“Early on we did our share of lobbying with OSFC [to get funding,]” he said. “But, because our project came in under budget, OSFC paid for more than we originally thought they would, for things like a larger stage area and a metal roof, and they co-funded the geothermal system. The bottom line is, the Fredericktown district has a $28 million K-12 facility that cost local taxpayers about $9 million, and no second bond issue had to be passed.”
