The project to build a brand new Tyner Academy will cost around $17 million more than expected, but Hamilton County school board members assured the public they will see it through.
"The Hamilton County school board still plans to operate in fidelity for what we have set forth with Tyner," Karitsa Jones, D-Chattanooga, said at Thursday's board meeting.
In November 2021, the project was originally estimated at $68 million. Once the scope was determined and market conditions were reassessed in February 2022, it was estimated the project had increased to nearly $78 million.
Recent bids came in much higher, the lowest being $96 million from Christman Co., a Knoxville-based construction company.
Board members said that was due to inflation and the rising costs of construction materials. The board voted unanimously to accept Christman's bid Thursday but opted for a design with a scaled-back landscape, bringing the price tag down to $95 million.
"It may not have some azaleas and begonias, but it'll be really nice and pretty and aesthetically pleasing," Jones said.
Before the vote, board members spoke with officials from MBI Cos. Inc., the architectural firm hired to design the new building, to ensure the landscape, as Jones put it, wouldn't resemble a jail courtyard or become a mud pit.
Jerry Isaksen, principal architect for MBI, assured the board it will be grass-covered and low maintenance.
The project is being funded through $33 million of the district's COVID-19 relief dollars and $45 million in bonds approved by the County Commission last year.
Superintendent Justin Robertson said the school district is working with the commission to identify additional sources of funding, but that will take time.
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Tyner Academy is located at 6836 Tyner Road and was photographed on January 20, 2022."The plans are not off the table," Jones reiterated. "We're just having to work through some hiccups and some challenges that have been presented."
The COVID-19 relief dollars sunset in August 2024, meaning the money must be spent or the district stands to lose it. Robertson said officials are asking the state for an extension.
A groundbreaking date is not yet known, Jones said.
Board member Marco Perez, an independent of Signal Mountian, said the bid increased due to circumstances beyond the district's control.
"It's not that the ball was dropped," Perez said. "There's a whole process to get the bids in order, to get the designs, to get the idea. In that year of that process that it takes to put all that together, we have also seen an increase significantly across the country and across the world of costs associated with construction, specifically."
The rebuild, which combines and replaces Tyner middle and high schools, comes after years of complaints by students and staff about the buildings' poor conditions.
The two-story building will separate middle and high school classrooms but include shared spaces such as the cafeteria, band room, media room and other seating areas.
It will be able to accommodate up to 1,400 students and include metal roofing and covered walkways.
Contact Carmen Nesbitt at cnesbitt@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6327. Follow her on Twitter @carmen_nesbitt.