The front steps of Decatur High School. Photo by Dan Whisenhunt

The Decatur School Board is tackling a late addition to its Feb. 23 agenda: the approval of a $750,000 contract amendment for expansion of the city’s high school.

The board meets at 7 p.m. at City Schools of Decatur’s central office, located at 125 Electric Avenue. All meetings are open to the public.

The contract is with JE Dunn construction and moves the project into phases 2 and 3.

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“Staff has been working with the JE Dunn team to develop an action plan that would allow the smoothest transition from the Phase 1 to Phase 2/3 scope of work at Decatur High School,” a memo from Chief Operating Officer Noel Maloof says. “Moving into the overbuild portion of the Phase 2/3 at this time, will allow the project to stay on track for a completion date of Phase 2/3 near the beginning of the 2017-2018 school year barring any unforeseen delays.”

Maloof says in his memo that the request is for approval of an “overbuild” that would complete the structure and skin for the second and third story over the cafeteria being built in Phase 1.

“Completing the overbuild this summer will also allow us to maintain a functioning cafeteria during times when school is in session,” Maloof writes. “In order to transition from the old cafeteria to the new, we will need to bring the overbuild to a ‘shell’ state of completion prior to the end of summer. This is to allow for time to remove existing equipment from the old kitchen and reinstall it in the new kitchen.”

Not completing the overbuild could result in costly delays, Maloof says.

“Once we have solidified our budget for phase 2/3, we will ask the board to approve the remaining construction and other costs associated with phase 2/3,” Maloof writes. “It is important to note that the target construction cost for all construction for phase 2/3, including the overbuild, is $18.8 million.”

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