By Eric Stevick
Herald Writer
ARLINGTON — Taking advantage of low bids, the Arlington School District has added stadium grandstands and other work to its high school construction project.
In January, the school board awarded a $25.76 million contract to Absher Construction Co. of Puyallup to build the new high school 1.7 miles south of the existing campus.
Because the bids were so low, the district was able to add the extra projects, which it had requested alternate bids for.
The Arlington School Board did so Monday after weeks of staff analysis and a public hearing.
The additional $3.88 million comes in large part from voter-approved school construction bonds and the sale of timber from the site where the new high school is being built.
Voters approved the high school construction two years ago as part of a $54 million package that renovates one elementary school, adds another elementary and converts the existing high school into a middle school.
Construction started last week on the high school, which will be built on a 52-acre parcel just east of Gleneagle Townhomes off Highway 9.
Among the alternate bids, the big-ticket item is the $2.8 million stadium grandstands. The remaining $1 million will help pay for 22 more parking stalls, two more tennis courts, a varsity baseball field with bleachers and baseball practice field. Also included is a varsity softball field with bleachers, a softball practice field, a soccer practice field, walkways and batting cages.
The school board also asked the staff to have an architectural design study completed for a performing arts center, although there are no immediate plans — or money — to build one.
"Because of the economic climate and the quality of our bid documents, we got a great bid that experts have told us probably wouldn’t be available again," said Warren Hopkins, an assistant superintendent.
When the bonds passed two years ago, a separate $6 million measure to build the fields and a performing arts center failed to get the 60 percent "yes" vote to pass. The district had put the fields and performance arts center in the bid documents as alternate projects merely hoping to get an idea about how much they would cost in the future.
The district had several people testify at a public hearing about alternate bids on the new high school. No one testified against using bond money on the extra work.
"I think that the board has attempted to get the most they can with the money the taxpayers entrusted them, and we are getting an awful lot of bang for the buck," Hopkins said.
You can call Herald Writer Eric Stevick at 425-339-3446 or send e-mail to stevick@heraldnet.com.
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