OMAHA, Neb. — Jacobs Project Management has been awarded a contract for the Omaha Public Schools (OPS) Board of Education’s $409.9 million school construction project.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that the project includes the construction of five new schools, thanks to the OPS bond measure passed by voters in May.

Through the passage of the measure, OPS will reportedly be able to finance the construction of two high schools, one in northwest Omaha and one in south Omaha, two elementary schools in south Omaha, and one middle school in south Omaha.

OPS will continue to move forward with Phase 2 of its construction projects now that Jacobs has been awarded a contract as project manager.

“The district is currently working with Jacobs to develop the official construction timeline for the renovation and construction work ahead,” said OPS Spokeswoman Monique Farmer.

According to a FAQ website about the bond, the Citizens’ Bond Oversight Committee has overseen the Phase 1 bond program since it started and will continue to oversee the Phase 2 bond issue to ensure that the district stays within budget.

The website states that the $409.9 million bond will be distributed across the district for both renovation and new construction projects, with over $41 million going towards renovation projects at elementary schools, over $29 million going towards renovation projects at middle schools, and over $69 million going towards renovation projects at high schools, and an alternative school.

Included in those numbers are additions to be completed at Edison, Highland, Masters Pinewood and Spring Lake Magnet Elementary Schools and Lewis & Clark and Morton Magnet Middle Schools.

Over $42 million is being allocated to the construction of the two new elementary schools, over $42 million is being allocated to the new middle school, and over $184 million is being allocated to the two new high schools.

OPS enrolls over 52,000 students and is currently made up of 63 elementary schools, 12 middle schools, seven high schools, one virtual school and 13 alternative programs, according to its website.

Jacobs’ history with OPS reportedly dates back to 1999, when the company managed OPS’ $254 million bond issue. The company was reportedly paid $15.1 million, or 5.9 percent of the total $254 million authorized by voters, over the course of five years to coordinate construction projects and organize dozens of contractors as OPS’ bond program manager.

The Omaha World-Herald reported that for the 2014 Phase 1 program, Jacobs was paid $15.9 million, or 3.79 percent of the $421 million in bonds approved by voters, for a five-year contract that included them overseeing the design, construction and completion of those projects.

That Phase 1 project reportedly included both major and minor construction at 81 existing schools and alternative programs within the school district.

For Phase 2, the program manager will reportedly juggle a number of duties, including handling construction budgets, scheduling work, managing bids, inspecting construction and running an economic inclusion program that is intended to provide a more equal playing field for small and local contractors competing for work.

According to the Omaha World-Herald, Northwest and Bryan High, which opened in the 1970s, were the last to be built in the school district, making the new high school being built in Phase 2, the first new high school to be built in several decades.

Reports from the Omaha World-Herald, and information from the Omaha Public School District’s website contributed to this story.

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BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — The DLR Group will provide integrated master planning, architecture and interior design services for the long-awaited Beverly Hills High School (BHHS) Modernization Project.

The project entails a complete modernization that includes additions to the 510,000-square-foot school’s B1, B2, B3 and B4 buildings.

In what BHHS calls a “full structural seismic retrofit,” the new campus will be a combination of modernized existing buildings as well as new buildings, designed to harmonize with the original 1928 building. Significant work will be done to Building B1 and Building B2 in Phase 1 of the modernization project. Construction for B1 will include a new media center, new college and career centers, new public restrooms, teacher workrooms, staff offices, and a reading center.

Construction for B2 will include 10 Classrooms with flexible partition walls, new public restrooms, conference and workrooms, speech and independent study areas, principal and staff offices, counseling center, and an ASB Center. The Beverly Hills Unified School District (BHUSD) contracted the DLR Group as the Architect of Record for the project in July of 2012.

SCN originally covered this project back in November of 2011 when the DLR Group won a conceptual design competition by a unanimous vote of judges to modernize Beverly Hills High School at an estimated cost of $150 million. Since then, Karen MacIntyre, RA, LEED AP BD+C with the DLR Group, says that renovations on the first two buildings B1 and B2 are currently underway, and are scheduled for completion in 2021.

The DLR Group and BHUSD officials remain tight-lipped about the project, as a lawsuit has been filed against the Federal Transit Administration and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority for a different kind of construction project underground.

The Los Angeles County Metro has plans to drill a subway tunnel 70 feet below BHHS at the same time construction of the modernization project, which started back in April, continues for the next 30 months.

According to the Los Angeles Times, a $9-billion subway extension, commonly referred to as the “Purple Line,” will be broken up into three phases that includes connecting the current terminus in Koreatown to Beverly Hills and Century City by 2025.

In January, the school district announced that it was filing a lawsuit against the FTA, and the Metro, but is still moving forward with plans for the modernization on BHHS.

“The primary impact will be on B1 and B2 because they go directly under B1 and B2,” said Terry Tao, an attorney representing BHUSD. “The only impact on those buildings would be sound and vibration.”

At full build-out, nearly the entire 24-acre site at BHHS will be redeveloped to maximize usable area for regulation-sized athletic fields, and to create a pedestrian-focused campus by placing parking underground.

The Swim Gym made famous in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life” will be restored, and a new pedestrian plaza will replace the existing Heath Avenue that cuts through the campus. New educational specifications will guide the development of innovative 21st Century learning environments, focused on learning villages and flexible common space. The facility program includes three different theaters, a highly advanced TV studio, a robotics lab, an art gallery/welcome center, a fitness club, a planetarium, new gymnasiums and athletic fields, and an Olympic-size aquatics facility.

Tao said that Phase 1 is currently in the “construction document approval phase,” and that plans for buildings B3 and B4 are forthcoming.

“Eventually we’re going to do [Building] A, but that’s not on their agenda yet,” said Tao.

A report from the Los Angeles Times contributed to this story.

The post Beverly Hills HS Embarks on $150 Million Modernization Project appeared first on School Construction News.

The first step is the construction of three new buildings this summer — the Community Commons, First-Year Residence Hall and Pioneer Career Achievement Center and Alumni Center — that aim to transform the student experience upon their opening in fall of 2020. This initial project is reportedly a $143 million undertaking, with the commons the most costly of the elements.

“In the past 20 years, the University of Denver has invested about $1 billion in facilities and infrastructure,” Chopp said. “We are now investing another $143 million in three student-centered buildings. The Denver Advantage Campus Framework Plan will guide us for the next 20 years as we establish a great college town in the heart of the city — with more retail, affordable and market rate housing, dining options and more sustainable transportation solutions. To do that, we’ll need to continue to engage the campus and our neighbors as we go forward.”

With the DACFP, DU envisions its campus’ future as a vibrant college town in the heart of the larger overall city. The goal is a makeover of its 125-acre campus into a more active community, with more retail, affordable housing and restaurant options, and even the potential development of a hotel on the north side of campus. The university hopes to blur its campus boundaries while being more visitor-friendly to the surrounding neighborhoods and also working with the city of Denver on a number of sustainable transportation alternatives.

The new residence hall will be paid for by room and board charges, while the Community Commons and Career Achievement Center will be covered, at least in part, by philanthropy and partnerships. The university also announced that upon the opening of the buildings in 2020, every undergraduate and graduate student will pay a new fee of $6.50 per credit hour in an effort to help fund the Commons.

Last month, the university launched its pilot bike-share program with 200 bikes, promoting sustainable transportation choices. This July, the university will also launch a pilot program with Chariot Shuttles, which will provide a shuttle service to the DU community with stops at the light rail plus other designated route stops, with plans to hopefully grow the service to neighboring communities in the near future.

While all these changes are exciting for DU, there has been concern over increased traffic.  With that in mind, the university announced that it received approval on adding new pedestrian crosswalks along Evans Avenue – a street that sees more than 12,000 pedestrians daily on average.

While construction begins on three buildings this summer, other projects described in the plan may take up to 20 years to be fully realized.

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