Everett School District office cost jumps $535K

The cost of the Everett School District’s new administration building has increased by more than a half-million dollars, with the tab for construction now expected to hit $17.49 million.

The $535,392 in additional charges paid for two projects: digging out and taking away petroleum-contaminated soil found on the site as construction was under way and installing equipment to back up the school district’s power network and protect it against power surges, said Hal Beumel, director of facilities and planning.

The 66,365-square-foot building is scheduled to open in October. It is being built near the corner of Broadway and 41st Street SE in Everett.

The final cost of the building, including taxes and purchase of furniture and equipment, is expected to be at least $23.8 million.

The school district initially paid to have petroleum-contaminated soil removed from the site in the summer of 2009.

There were two gas stations and a fuel distribution center on the land from early 1960s through 1984, according to Beumel. The school district bought the site in 1986.

However, as construction on the new administration proceeded, four additional areas of soil contaminated with gasoline or oil were found. Removal of the contaminated soil took about two weeks.

“We had to clean that up, excavate it and haul it to an approved disposal site,” he said

In order to avoid delay, the soil had to be removed quickly, Beumel said.

The total cost to remove and dispose the contaminated soil was $242,539.

The power unit, which provides an uninterrupted power supply during power outages, cost $292,853. The project is being completed by Everett-based Valley Electric.

Administrative offices currently are split among several sites in the school district. The Longfellow building, a former elementary school built in 1911, was converted to an office building in 1970. A building at 4730 Colby Ave. is where Superintendent Gary Cohn and some other administrators have their offices and where school board meetings are held.

BNCC Inc. of Steilacoom is the contractor in charge of constructing the new administration building.

Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
A brief timeline of Ariel Garcia’s disappearance

The Everett boy, 4, went missing early Wednesday. The following evening, police announced they found the remains of a small child.

Everett
Everett man accused of supplying drugs in Whatcom County Jail overdoses

Angel Lewis Leffingwell, 38, pleaded not guilty to controlled substance homicide Friday in the Whatcom County Jail death.

Eleazar Cabrera (Washington State Department of Corrections)
Marysville man gets 29 years for Snohomish home invasion, shooting

A jury convicted Eleazar Cabrera of first-degree assault and first-degree robbery for shooting a resident in the back multiple times.

People wander around and photograph fields of tulips, daffodils and other flowers during the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival at RoozenGaarde in Mount Vernon, Washington, on Friday April 14, 2023. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
Color your day at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival

The farms are in bloom this weekend. The festival, in its 41st year, runs through the month of April.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Days before Everett boy, 4, was found dead, grandma had won custody

After a massive search, Ariel Garcia’s body was discovered somewhere outside Everett on Thursday. His mother was arrested in Clark County.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.