The AHS Building Committee felt it important to update the Arlington community on the current status of the building project. The project is in the Design Development phase where the design is further developed and refined. As part of this process, a revised project estimate was just performed, revealing a gap of $29.5 million between the design development estimate and the approved project budget. Significant contributors include higher estimates for HVAC, mechanical utilities and site costs. 

“Situations like this are common for large projects and are part of the process,” remarked Town Manager Adam Chapdelaine. “Maintaining educational components of the facility are the highest priority and the Committee remains dedicated to building an educationally exceptional facility.”

In order to align the project with the approved budget, the Committee will be taking a number of steps over the next several weeks. It is likely that a combination of value engineering and design modifications will be needed to stay within the budget. Value engineering is the process of comparing alternatives and their associated costs, and making choices to keep the project within budget, without sacrificing educational priorities. It is an exercise that all construction projects use and it is required by the MSBA for all projects no matter how the project cost estimate compares to the budget.

In the coming weeks, the Committee will outline the decision process for aligning the project with the approved budget. As a first step, the Committee voted November 19 to adopt $3.7 million in value engineering recommendations. Additional information will be posted on this website as it becomes available.

Learn more:

• Ponderings Blog: What is value engineering?