Despite ‘unrealistic’ original cost estimates of new high
school, district not far from current mark
Gilroy – With construction costs rising at near-exponential rates, Gilroy Unified School District is struggling to keep pace with a price tag that’s tripled since original estimates. Christopher High School, initially expected to cost about $39 million, is now expected to cost $91.5 million, not including the price of land, which would bring the total cost to $110 million. Despite such drastic price changes, only a $12 million gap separates the funds available and the cost of the new school.
“The $39 million was an early estimate made without a significant amount of details,” said Steve Brinkman, the district’s assistant superintendent. “Truthfully, that was probably an unrealistic estimate. Since then, we’ve done a number of things to figure out what the details will cost, and that increased the estimate significantly. Hindsight is 20/20.”
Though Don Christopher donated land to be used for CHS, the district still needs to purchase additional land. The original land cost estimate was $6 million, but has jumped to about $18.5 million.
Factor in the cost of inflation, which sent labor and materials costs skyrocketing, those surging land values, and the district was forced to go into overdrive in an effort to keep up with the rising price tag.
Once Measure I was passed in 2002, the money needed to go toward about five pages worth of projects the district had lined up, Brinkman said. Christopher High School was one of the last projects to start, so when the funds ran short, it bore the brunt of the financial impact, contributing to the financial struggle and $12 million gap.
School board members have said they will borrow the money as a last resort, but are waiting to see how the district will narrow the gap.
So far, the district has slashed costs by working with the school’s architect firm, Bunton Clifford Associates, Inc. The school’s exterior has been changed from stone to concrete with a stone veneer, said Greg Crouch, the school’s project manager. Plans for a football stadium with lights and a synthetic track also have been axed. Instead, a modified granite track and bleachers are slated for the campus.
“We’ve commissioned a study to validate our construction numbers, and that should be available in about two weeks,” Brinkman said. “We are conscious of how we spend every penny. The flaw in the whole process was that original estimate.”
