Charles City school board picks company to resume high school renovation planning

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Charles City Board of Education approved a contract with an architectural and planning company this week that could lead to multi-million dollar changes to the school district’s facilities.

The board approved an agreement with Invision Architecture LTD, of Waterloo, to help plan and design renovations and additions for the high school campus aimed at preparing for a bond referendum vote that could happen next March, and — if financing is approved — construction beginning in the spring of 2023.

The proposal by the architectural firm says the project’s cost “is unknown at this time, but a bond referendum in the ballpark of $30-35 million construction budget has been discussed. This is to be tested during the planning phase.”

School district Superintendent Mike Fisher said at the board meeting, “We’ve been working with a new architect to talk about future renovations of our secondary campus. We had board members, leadership and staff members deciding on who we want to work with.”

He said school administration and legal counsel had been working with the firm to iron out the final contract language, and now he was happy to present “an agreement that is acceptable to all of us.”

School board President Josh Mack said he had been part of the team that interviewed potential architects and he was “really excited” about the choice of Invision.

Speaking to two representatives of the firm who were attending the meeting remotely over Zoom, Mack said, “There’s a lot of excitement from the staff about this particular project, and just your engagement has been really high and really involved, understanding how we use the buildings and how we want to see them change, what the benefit is for the kids.

“I think you guys have done a great job with starting that out. We look forward to continuing to work with you,” Mack said.

Board member Scott Dight, another member of the interview team, said Invision’s presentation “blew me away” and was “spot on.”

“I’m very confident that Invision’s team will be able to guide the district and our staff in completing an actual vision of what a high school renovation and work would look like,” Dight said. “I’m looking forward to them coming on board and seeing what we can work out with the future of our district.”

According to the contract and a proposal from Invision, sent to the district by firm partner and architect Brad Leeper, the project includes “pre-bond” planning to determine the scope and budget for a high school and middle school addition and renovation as Phase One, followed by full design and construction.

Specific projects are listed as:

• Removal and replacement of the round connector buildings that include music, band, orchestra, classrooms, special needs, FCS, administration, etc.
• New addition to include a secure entrance, auditorium and replacement space for the programming currently in the round buildings.
• Renovation of the high school including fire alarm, air conditioning, security and systems.

The planning process would include “engagement with staff, students and the community, space programming, site option tests, plan diagram and a simple rendering to convey the character of the proposal.”

The proposal notes that “middle school work is relatively new so no work is anticipated here.”

The cost for Invision’s pre-bond services would be based on a per-hour schedule, with the total not to exceed $62,000 plus expenses.

If the projects proceeds to design and construction, the firm’s fee would be a percentage of the project’s estimated construction cost as determined by an independent estimator. The percentage rate would depend on the total cost estimate.

Kerry Weig, an Invision architect who will be working with the school district on the project, said via Zoom, “I will say that we heard loud and clear from your administrator team that this project is about your staff and students. We take that to heart and that’s at the core of the work that we do.

“We know you’ve done a lot of work, you have a lot of stuff in place,” she said. “We’re not here to rethink that or restart over at the beginning of the process. We want to build upon that and just really take the next steps forward and not have you step backward at all.”

Leeper, who was also on the Zoom remote, said, “Conceptually, that really starts with listening, and we’re going to listen to a pretty broad group. We’ve done over a billion dollars in education in the last decade, but every place we work is different.

“We want to find what’s unique about you guys. We’ve been collecting information. We’re going to get to a section of defining needs and aspirations and we’re going to identify some approaches for all of you to look at, in the community and the staff, to see what’s right for you,” he said. “We’re excited to get going.”

The Charles City school district had begun looking at updates to the high school campus in 2016, after the new middle school was opened that fall.

It worked with BLDD Architects, an Illinois firm with offices in Davenport, and over the next year and a half came up with a $26 million plan to demolish the existing circle sections at the high school and build three wings dedicated to specific parts of the curriculum, although no bond referendum date was ever set.

When the former superintendent, Dan Cox, moved on to a new job and Fisher took over in the summer of 2018, those plans went on hold.

“We want to look at where we are comprehensively as a district,” Fisher told the Press shortly after he started. He said a facilities assessment and the future of the North Grand Building were at the top of the priority list at that time.

“We do know that there will obviously have to be renovations at the high school in the future, but we’re going to wait for some more information to come in,” he said in September 2018, shortly after his first school year in the Charles City district had begun.