New High School > New Information/Updates > Spring 2006 Updates

It's a Go!
At its April 11th meeting, the Souderton Area School District Board of School Directors voted 6-3 to award new school construction contracts in the total amount of $89,119,000.00. Those construction costs, in addition to other project costs (such as the purchase of land, traffic and impact fees, architect costs and furniture and equipment), bring the total project cost to $114,441,030.00. The total project cost is much below the final estimate of $122,589,000.00 given by the architect in January, and is very close to the original total cost estimate of $113,800,820.00 presented at the public Act 34 Hearing in August 2005. The "bottom line" cost was the result of a very competitive bidding environment commanded by the size and quality of the project. Numerous companies competed for the eight prime construction contracts with contracts being awarded to the lowest bidder.

Board Selects Alternates
Selecting what features "stayed" and "went" from the project was the topic of much School Board discussion during March and April. The Board selected the following major features for inclusion in the new high school:

• More durable terrazzo flooring in the most used traffic areas on the first floor of the building
• More durable rubber tile flooring in the cafeteria and classroom wings
• A longer lasting three-ply roof system
• Operable windows (windows that can be opened and closed)
• Expanded student and faculty parking areas
• A stadium with an all-weather track and Sprinturf artificial playing surface
• Two additional playing fields
• Underground drainage systems on certain playing fields

These features were included in the project to support the school's academic and co-curricular programs as well as provide long-term value and "payback" through reduced maintenance and replacement costs.

Project Financing
The Board also made important project financing decisions and borrowed $46,920,000 using a floating-to-fixed interest rate swap with an effective date of September 1, 2009.

Meeting with the Neighbors
The SASD continued its effort to keep new high school neighbors informed and up to date. The SASD hosted a neighbors meeting on February 8th and introduced the project's construction management team, D'Huy Engineering Inc. Details related to neighbor-district communication, project timelines and imminent construction activities were discussed. The SASD will continue communicating and working with its new neighbors throughout the project and looks forward to a long and friendly relationship.