Construction crews are four months into a project that will culminate in new elementary to accommodate the approximately 135 kindergarten through fifth grade students that live in the Ojo Caliente area.
Workers from Albuquerque’s Bradbury Stamm Construction started work on the proposed 21,938-square-foot Ojo Caliente Elementary School project, which will replace the existing elementary. Construction began a day after District officials hosted the Aug. 9 groundbreaking.
The Mesa Vista School Board, in conjunction with the Public School Facilities Authority, awarded Bradbury Stamm Construction an $8.3 million contract to build the new facility and tear down two existing structures.
Bradbury Stamm received the award from the evaluation committee, made up of five unidentified District employees and members of Albuquerque’s FBT Architects, even though the company didn’t enter the lowest bid.
Stamm’s winning $8,281,400 bid was the second-lowest of the five companies that showed interest in the project.
Alcalde’s R&M Construction came in with the lowest bid, estimating it would cost them $7,400,925 to do the job, with all the alternates included.
However, unlike an Invitation to Bids that mandates the lowest bidder receive the work, Requests for Proposals are awarded based on myriad components that include the contractor’s experience, the technical proposals they submit with their package and in-person interviews.
Mesa Vista Board President Andy Lopez did not explain why Stamm was chosen.
Besides the building, Stamm’s winning proposal includes several alternates like a installing a security system and paving the road leaving the site.
However, Stamm and R&M weren’t the only companies to submit a Request for Proposals package for review.
Aztec, N.M,’s FCI Constructors, Inc. submitted a proposal package with an $8,666,967 bid and Portland, Ore,-based Pavilion Construction entered the most expensive package at $8,695,000.
Española-based Cross Connection Mechanical didn’t submit a proposal package even though they initially showed interest in the job.
Lopez said he is excited that construction is underway and anticipates the school will be up and running by August 2017, just in time for the start of the 2017-2018 School Year.
The new structure is needed because the current one was built nearly 50 years ago and is difficult to keep up.
“The old school was built in 1968,” Lopez said. “The building that is being replaced was dilapidated and couldn’t make code.”
He said the District waited until the “perfect moment” to seek funding from Authority officials.
“The project continued to grow on the list for priority funding until funding was available,” Lopez said.
Because of the advanced state of disrepair, the elementary school project rose as high as 19 on the Public Schools Capital Outlay Council’s list.
The list determines the order of funding for public school projects.
Mesa Vista voters approved a $4,320,000 bond in 2013, which will be used for matching funds.
According to the funding formula outlined in 2013, the state would pay for 52 percent of the project and the District would be responsible for the remaining 48 percent.
Once the new elementary school is open for instruction, the District will combine the El Rito and Ojo Caliente elementary schools.
The soon-to-be former El Rito Elementary School will be converted into the District’s middle school.
Lopez said creating a space specifically for middle school students will more than likely translate to better classroom performances for many of the students.
He said, currently, the middle schoolers share a school with the older high school students, which is a distraction for some.
“They can go to school with students in there own age group,” Lopez said. “Instead of trying to impress the older students.”