Labor provisions could scuttle agreement just as construction contract was ready for signing.
This is a reproduction of an article in the Sunday April 28th, 2024 edition of The Gazette Leader that can be found HERE:
[Update, 4/28/24:]
The proposal to approve the construction contract for the Arlington Career Center project ran into problems at the School Board’s April 25 meeting, largely over the issue of adding further labor-protection provisions into the $132.5 million contract that staff has proposed with Whiting-Turner Contracting.
School officials have until May 9 to sort the matter out, as that’s the date the contract is expected to be voted upon.
If the contract needs to be reworked, or the entire project needs to be re-bid, significant delays are possible in getting the new school built and opened.
[Original coverage, 4/26/24:]
Plans for construction of a new Arlington Career Center building will keep moving forward in coming weeks, as the School Board is being asked to approve construction and construction-management contracts for the facility.
Up for discussion on April 25 was the staff proposal to award a $132.5 million construction contract to Whiting-Turner Contracting Co., along with a contract of $4.8 million for construction-management services to Turner & Townsend Heery.
A vote will come at a later date.
Whiting-Turner was deemed to have the lowest responsive bid from among four construction firms competing for the project.
The new school will be built on part of the existing Career Center campus along South Walter Reed Drive, north of Columbia Pike. The new building is expected to be open in time for the start of the 2026-27 school year.
The total project budget is $175 million, nearly all of which will come from the sale of bonds authorized by voters for the project.
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