On December 3rd, the Town of Arlington and Consigli Construction (AHS construction manager) signed a Guaranteed Maximum Price (GMP) agreement that sets the construction budget for the high school at $234,287,347, roughly $1 million less than the construction cost approved in 2019. In addition, the AHS Building Committee was able to add back several items that were in doubt after the last estimate done in October.
Now that the design is complete and the project GMP is set, there is a clearer picture of the project budget. Due to a competitive bid process and changes that have happened with the economy in 2020, the Building Committee was able to add a handful of desired items back into the project. Items returning to the project include lighting at the new athletic fields, the Minuteman Bikeway ramp that connects the bike path to the school grounds, a traffic light at Mill Street and additional insulation in the performing arts wing. In addition, the Building Committee added HVAC improvements including bipolar ionization and a robust air filtration system. If the budget allows later in the project, additional items may be added back.
The AHS Building Committee has worked hard with the project team to keep the project on budget. Nearly a year ago, when the cost estimate exceeded the budget by $29.5M, the Building Committee performed a value engineering exercise to bring the project back on budget. The Building Committee will continue to monitor the budget and look at ways to reduce costs while still focusing on building an educationally excellent facility.