School Board OKs Contract for Addition to Maintenance Shop

In a 7-1 vote, the Racine Unified School District Board of Education on Mon., June 27, awarded a $286,240 contract to Absolute Construction of Racine for an addition to a shop maintenance building at its new Administrative Service Center campus at 3109 Mount Pleasant St. 

Board Member Dennis Wiser cast the lone dissenting vote.

"I am disappointed that a lack of planning is resulting in an additional expense," he stated.

Absolute will do the work in addition to the contract they've already been awarded to remodel the former Surgitek manufacturing and office structure on the site into RUSD administrative offices and a warehouse.

The maintenance shop addition will consist of a two-bay garage of pre-engineered steel construction for fleet maintenance work,  said Frank Jarosz, RUSD facilities management director. It is expected to be completed in about three to four weeks.

About $206,000 for the project was already budgeted  for the maintenance shop. The remaining $80,000 is coming from a contingency fund that was created to cover any higher-than-expected expenses. That fund will have a balance of about $51,000 after the shop addition contract.

David Hazen, RUSD chief financial officer, said that a specially built room to house the district’s computer servers and some remodeling of a smaller office on the ground has cost more than expected. Meanwhile, costs for roof repairs and new heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems have come in lower than anticipated. He also said that costs for moving and carpeting are also expected to be less than original projections.

The overall remodeling price tag is about $950,000.

RUSD administration is scheduled to move into the new headquarters later this summer.