Carl Franceschi of Drumney Rosane & Anderson Architects Inc. fielded questions about the project Monday night.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Plans to eliminate the flexible use spaces and air conditioning in classrooms has given the city pause.

 

The School Building Needs Commission pushed off a vote Monday night that would have set a schematic design and budget cap as the 21 members were split on whether those items should be removed.

 

"The result of tonight's meeting, when we anticipated having a final schematic design and a final number that the budget was not to exceed, was to ask our architects to go back and do some additional work on the process," Superintendent Jason McCandless said. 

 

"The means by which we got this to a number that we felt would be affordable and pass muster with the City Council didn't fully pass muster with the School Building Needs Commission."

 

Drumney Rosane & Anderson Architects Inc., who is designing the project, presented a $116 million plan to the commission last week. The design was scaled back to hit that target with the elimination of some 37 items — two of those being the flexible classroom space and the air conditioning. 

 

While commissioners seemed to be in agreement with many of the proposed reductions, there were some sticking points. After two and a half hours, they tabled the discussion on which items should be put back into the project and which should stay out.

 

"We are seeking a compromise on the clusters," said Commissioner John Krol. "We are finding something in the middle for a redesign."

 

The classrooms were originally eyed to be clustered around the flexible spaces but by eliminating the spaces, more than $3 million was cut out of the project budget. It is also unclear how much, if added back, the state would reimburse because of square-foot criteria. 

 

Yet, that clustering was one of the main aspects of the plan.

 

"The School Committee did approve the educational program and that included the use of these flex spaces," McCandless said.

 

The air conditioning system was reduced in size for a savings of $1.2 million. But Taconic is currently used during the summer for programs for not just Pittsfield students but also neighboring districts. Last week, Taconic Principal John Vosburgh said some 200 students use the classrooms during the summer.

 

"Air conditioning is tricky. We have 12 schools in the district and that would be the only one with air conditioning to the classrooms. However, having been part of a construction project in a different town in Massachusetts, people still ask themselves why in the world we still build a school without putting air conditioning in it," McCandless said. 

 

"It is much more cost effective to do at the time of construction rather than to go back and do it over again."

 

While those may have been the major sticking points Monday, the commission did agree to increase the budget by $85,000 more to keep the thickness of the parking lot at its original designed level.

 

"We definitely should not cut that back," said Commissioner John Barber, who added that the reduction would be to an inch and a half, which is good for a residential driveway but not a heavily trafficked school. "The $85,000 appears to be a no-brainer."

 

Patrick Mele said there are other items — such as a reduction in granite curbing — that also will be sticking points. The commission is trying to balance quality while keeping the project in a price range so as to pass City Council approval, he said.

 

"I don't want to jeopardize the project," Mele said. 

 

The commission also opted to add LED lights back into the budget. Those were removed in favor of florescent ones at a savings of $97,000. The commissioners also opted to put some — not all — of the photovoltaic panels back onto the roof.

 

The group will meet next Monday to continue to debate the final design and budget. Once the budget is set, the construction manager will not be able to go above that figure. The design and budget is eyed to be approved by mid-April to be eligible for the Massachusetts School Building Authority meeting in June.