Bozeman = Montana Local News

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

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News

Warm=20 river water leads to fishing restrictions

Bozeman=20 High renovation shaken by cost, earthquake woes

Commission=20 says no to Rialto changes

State=20 sets record in the creation of new county lots

Emergency=20 crews having tough time getting through traffic

Miller=20 plunges into new job leading Bozeman schools=20

Sports

Bucks'=20 winning streak hits 12 games

Belgrade=20 girl wins national junior high rodeo championship=20

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Bozeman High renovation shaken by cost, = earthquake=20 woes

By GAIL SCHONTZLER = Chronicle Staff=20 Writer

The discovery of major earthquake safety problems at the = old Chief=20 Joseph Middle School and other unexpected costs have put the renovation = plan for=20 Bozeman High School $4 million over budget, forcing planners to scrap a = proposed=20 new library.

Keeping and fixing = up the old=20 high school library would bring the project back within the $30 million = budget,=20 but there still wouldn't be a penny to build a new auditorium. An = auditorium=20 could cost up to $10 million for the professional-style theater that = architects=20 had been considering.

And there may not be enough money to build = 11 new=20 classrooms along the high school's long hall, which jeopardizes the plan = to give=20 all teachers at least one =93prep=94 period in their = classrooms.

The news=20 fell like bombshells Monday night on the Bozeman School Board trustees, = most of=20 whom hadn't been told of the problems.

Trustees expressed = surprise and=20 frustration and said that they have no idea what the proposed high = school will=20 look like now.

Gary Griffith, the school administrator in charge of major = construction=20 projects, said the seismic engineer reported three weeks ago that the = old Chief=20 Joseph Middle School doesn't meet modern seismic safety = codes.

=93The floor=20 slabs are extremely rigid, but (it's as if) they're held up with = toothpicks,=94=20 Griffith told the board.

Instead of the $300,000 to $400,000 = budgeted for=20 seismic work, it will cost $1.4 to $1.5 million to build huge exterior=20 buttresses - two stories tall and 20 feet wide at the bottom - to keep = the walls=20 from shifting in an earthquake, Griffith said.

Voters passed a = $36=20 million bond issue in 2005 to renovate and expand Bozeman High to solve = problems=20 with crowding, sprawl and an inadequate number of classrooms. The = original plan=20 called for saving money by having half new construction and half = renovated=20 space, including having the high school take over the old Chief Joseph = building=20 next door.

Meanwhile, the staff urged the board to approve the = revised=20 plan in the next two to four weeks, so that construction drawings can be = ready=20 to go to bid by next March.

Chairman Carson Taylor asked whether = the=20 board could put the project on hold for one year.

Inflation would = increase the costs, and the district would risk forfeiting interest to = the=20 federal government, the staff said. But Taylor said he didn't want to = make a=20 hasty, bad decision that could cost millions of dollars.

=93I'm = trying to=20 comprehend why three weeks ago everything goes to hell in a hand = basket,=94 said=20 Trustee Denise Hayman.

Derek Didriksen, project manager for Dick = Anderson=20 Construction, the general contractor, said the cost overruns are mainly = due to=20 the seismic problem and the discovery that existing air-handling = mechanical=20 equipment won't meet modern codes.

There's no money to build the=20 auditorium, but the school's contract with architect Ben Lloyd calls for = him to=20 prepare plans for a 1,250-seat auditorium, in hopes the district would=20 eventually raise the money to build it.

Trustees debated but = reached no=20 consensus on whether to scale it back to an 800-seat auditorium, without = a=20 balcony, orchestra pit or professional-sized fly loft. That would meet = most=20 school needs, though not community opera or symphony needs. The smaller=20 auditorium might cost $5 million or $6 million, Lloyd = said.

Trustee=20 Heather Hart said she didn't want the public to look at the high school = and=20 think the school district did =93a bad, second-hand job.=94

=93I = don't want to=20 drive by eight years from now and say, =91Boy, did we make a = mistake,'=94 Hart=20 said.

=93My heart is racing as much around the 11 classrooms as = the=20 auditorium,=94 said Trustee Sarah Glover. =93But my heart is racing.=94 =

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