By Missy Schrott | mschrott@alextimes.com
City Council approved a development special use permit on Saturday for the Douglas MacArthur Modernization Project, which is currently $5 to $7 million over budget.
The project, which involves demolishing the existing Douglas MacArthur Elementary School and rebuilding a new one, will increase the school’s capacity from 558 to 850 students. It will cater to students in pre-K through fifth grade.
The project has been on Alexandria City Public Schools’ radar for several years. However, it was expedited last year after the school board voted to use the old Patrick Henry school site as a “swing space” for MacArthur students during construction. The community engagement process for the MacArthur project began in October 2019, and the school board voted for a design concept for the building in February 2020.
While the capital improvement program-funded budget for the project is $77.5 million, the plans are currently $5 to $7 million over, Superintendent Dr. Gregory Hutchings, Ed.D., reported in a memo to City Manager Mark Jinks on Sept. 11.
Council’s discussion about the project during Saturday’s public hearing revolved around the budget gap.
Hutchings cited several reasons that the cost estimate is so high, including the parking garage size and orientation, increased square footage to accommodate a specialized instruction program and increased construction costs related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Hutchings emphasized that the cost estimate is not final and that ACPS still has several months to work on reducing the cost before it is finalized. He said ACPS had already cut project costs by $10 million since May, meaning that previous cost estimates were up to $17 million over budget.
Councilor John Chapman asked how such a gap had occurred.
“That seems like a process issue from the get-go,” Chapman said.
Erika Gulick, ACPS director of capital programs, planning and design, said the expedited process had contributed to unforeseen costs, as well as the fact that this is the first project ACPS has dealt with that has an underground parking garage.
“We do have several months to work through continued value management with your team … on city staff, and we do think we’ll be able to get that number down significantly,” Gulick said.
Several councilors expressed concern about whether ACPS would have the flexibility to reduce the cost if council approved the DSUP for the project.
“I’m still very nervous about voting for this … because it locks us in, I think, and I’m not sure that everything is settled,” Councilor Del Pepper said.
“When I hear an item like the parking garage driving … a dramatic portion of the cost of this project, I just want to make sure that we have the flexibility in this approval to consider some of those potential changes,” Mayor Justin Wilson said.
The parking garage currently costs about $9 million of the $77.5 million budget.
City staff said that approval of the DSUP would not hinder price reduction efforts.
Chapman expressed interest in being part of the “value management” process, which Jinks said could be arranged.
In addition to discussing cost, council spent time talking about the net zero energy aspect of the project. A DSUP condition specifies that the building must achieve a green building certification level of LEED Gold or equivalent and be designed to be “net zero ready.”
The Planning Commission recommended council amend the condition to require that the building “achieve net zero energy performance pursuant to the city’s Green Building Policy,” a stricter standard than being net zero ready.
Council ultimately approved the Planning Commission recommendation unanimously.
