The New GJHS was completed on time and reported under budget, but was it worth it?
Construction on the new building was finished in time without exceeding the $144.5 million cost allocated. However, in order to do so, several cuts were made to the final building.
Among other components, exterior window shades and interior wall coverings were considered higher dollar items and were cut out of the plans to accommodate for cost.
One of the biggest known cuts to the building, though, was an extension to the library. It was supposed to be an outdoor reading balcony, where the students could spend time and relax.
School District 51 Board President Andrea Haitz emphasized that the project came in under budget through this point of the project.
GJHS librarian Pam Middlemas said that plans such as the balcony extension to the library were put on hold, possibly indefinitely. The door to the planned balcony can still be found on the north side of the library.
Eddie Mort, the maintenance director for Mesa County School District 51, said, “Items like the balcony were “Value Engineered” (VE) in an exercise to reduce the overall budget early in the process. Many items were identified in the VE process. Exterior window shades, the balcony, interior wall coverings are all higher dollar items that were reduced. Those VE items can be put back in the budget as construction continues but there are also time deadlines.”
Mort said the library balcony specifically could not be added due to roofing infrastructure that needed to happen in order for it to be added back.
“At some point in the building process, they realized that they were going to have to make some cuts,” said Middlemas.
Meanwhile, the District approved the installation of a $1.5 million dollar athletic field that will be lined for football, lacrosse and soccer at GJHS. According to Jori Sorensen, the principal at GJHS, the turf field is being paid for by interest dollars and leftover money from bonds.
“The new turf field was added after the building construction was complete. It is being funded through interest dollars from the bond. This field will allow the Tigers to host football, soccer, lacrosse games on campus. The artificial turf will also save maintenance dollars. The water, paint, mowing and labor savings is a major factor in the decision for an artificial turf field,” said Mort.
Ballot Measure 4B was passed by Mesa County voters in November 2021, allocating $115 million to the GJHS school building project. Another $29.5 million of the $144.5 million total came from a 2017 school bond that was originally meant to make repairs to schools in the district.
The monthly tax from Measure 4B has been estimated to equate to less than $3 per month for a home valued at $300,000. Any remaining funds are being used to repay the bonds, and once they are repaid then the property tax will expire.
Other notable issues with the new building include obstructed view seating in the theater upper level balcony already requiring renovations, and HVAC problems in the first semester. Those two changes will not affect the budget at all, and will be covered by the architecture company and the HVAC company since the building is new.
Changes outside of that include adding film to interior classroom windows and pull-down blinds for safety.
Many students continue to complain about overcrowded stairways. The light switches in the hallways have been an issue due to students flipping them on and off.
The new school also has fewer classrooms than there are teachers in the building, causing a room issue with teachers needing to move around throughout the day.
Issues like these lead some around the building to mockingly use the phrase: “But it’s on time and under budget.”
