The most expensive single project in the Mobile County school system’s building program had run into a problem beneath the ground, and school board members learned that the new Citronelle High School would not be finished until the summer of 2016. The update, delivered by Hoar Program Management during the board’s annual two-day retreat at the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, carried with it the specter of a possible schedule overrun.
An unstable foundation forces a new site
The $25 million Citronelle High School had become the problem project in a much larger program. Testing showed that the soil at the site of the original high school was not stable enough to support a two-story building. Following that finding in mid-May, school officials and Hoar representatives recommended moving the new school to a different parcel across the street, bordered by Lebaron Avenue, Highway 45 and Centre Street.
The site change came with consequences for the calendar. James Adams, a representative from Hoar Program Management, told the board the delay could push the firm beyond the 33 months stipulated in the original $100 million bond contract, a window set to conclude in March 2016.
Board members press for answers
Not everyone on the board was satisfied with the explanation. Members Doug Harwell and Bill Foster questioned the reasons for the delay, with Foster voicing concern that Hoar officials were implying the construction might not be finished within the contract’s time frame. Harwell pointed to the time it had taken to complete the soil tests and deliver the resulting report.
“As a board, we should look at the length of time it took to get the results,” Harwell said.
Board President Reginald Crenshaw struck a more confident note, saying he believed Hoar would “move forward to get this done” before the 33 months elapsed. After the meeting, Adams acknowledged that the soil problem and the subsequent selection of a new site had produced an unavoidable delay. The project was “trending beyond our contract completion date, and we’ve made the board aware of that fact,” he said.
A two-phase path forward
The Citronelle work was reorganized into two phases: demolition and preparation of the new site, followed by construction of the school itself. The demolition phase was expected to be completed in early December. Construction was set to go out for bid on Nov. 20 and to begin in late December, with completion planned for the end of July 2016.
Part of a countywide building push
The Citronelle school was one piece of a sweeping construction effort. After selecting Hoar Program Management as its project management firm, the district had set a schedule to complete work on 17 schools within 33 months. Among the larger commitments were:
- $10 million in major renovations at Lott Middle School
- $10 million for Phillips Preparatory School
- $14 million to build a new K-8 school in Mobile’s Trinity Gardens, replacing Brazier Elementary and Chastang Middle
Hoar was also overseeing renovation of the exterior of the historic Barton Academy and Yerby School in downtown Mobile. On Aug. 19, the board awarded that contract to Ben Radcliff Construction for $2.8 million. At that point, the Barton project and the Citronelle site demolition were the only jobs for which a contractor had been chosen.
The next project set to go out for bid was a new multipurpose building at George Hall Elementary, a $2 million job with a bid date of Sept. 16. Other elementary schools slated to receive multipurpose buildings, all expected to be completed by the summer of 2015, were Burroughs, Ella Grant, Indian Springs, Orchard, Robbins and St. Elmo.