The Shawano School Board on Monday unanimously approved bringing back the Somerville architects to do remodeling design work for Shawano Community Middle School.
The Green Bay firm was chosen out of three offers received in response to a request for proposals in the last month. Somerville will receive $19,500 for its services, along with 6 to 7 percent of the total project cost, once it is determined.
The board voted in April to look for an architect in the hopes of moving forward with a November referendum that would modernize the school, especially its heating and cooling system. There has been no formal vote whether to hold the referendum.
Other potential projects include changing some of the walls in order to allow air to circulate properly. There might also be a renovation of the school commons to allow a full grade to eat at one time.
The district’s maintenance department has tried to keep the existing heating and cooling system running, but officials fear there could come a day when they can no longer purchase replacement parts.
Somerville worked on building Hillcrest Primary School and remodeling Olga Brener Intermediate School more than five years ago.
All three firms that expressed interest made presentations last week to the district’s buildings and grounds committee, which recommended Somerville as the best fit.
“Actually, they were very well-priced at the end, too,” said Jeff Easter, district maintenance director.
Easter said another plus in Somerville’s favor was its proposal to do an immediate and comprehensive evaluation before school let out in June, consulting with teachers and staff to develop a list of educational needs. From that list, the district could look at which needs are immediate and choose what to include in a referendum, he said.
The district needs firm numbers by early August to call for a November election.
Board member Marcia Yeager agreed that Somerville will provide the best bang for the district’s buck and reiterated that the district can no longer defer the work on the middle school.
“We have great facilities right now (at the other schools), but the only thing I feel has been neglected is the middle school,” Yeager said. “We can’t keep putting Band-aid upon Band-aid on a building.”
Board member Al Heins recalled how efficient and organized Somerville was with the work on Hillcrest and Olga Brener.
“Somerville had a meeting once a week on Mondays at 11 o’clock to meet with all the contractors to see where they were at and how it was going. That’s something they would do again,” Heins said. “They were very tight on schedule.”
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