In two different locations Thursday, May 28, the Board of Finance and the Public Building and Site Commission (PBSC) were scheduled to lay the groundwork for the earliest stages of a planned high school auditorium renovation, which may commence as early as July 1, the date funding becomes available for the project.

After an early misstep getting the appropriate budget allocation into the town’s Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), the project is back on track, and will receive expedited handling apparently due to the abbreviated time available to complete all the necessary work.

Last September, town officials learned that the project whose bonding was already approved by voters for $2.2 million, had escalated in cost to more than $3.5 million.

At the same time, however, a school district consultant told finance officials that since planned work would bring the facility up to current fire code and handicap accessibility compliance, the town could seek and would likely receive more than a half-million dollars in state reimbursements.

“I think that estimated reimbursement is conservative because many of the changes [being proposed] are driven by code compliance,” Charles Boos said. “My confidence is high because it’s a code project.”

Mr Boos told officials that if the town is already poised to spend $2.2 million on the auditorium, it should consider making the extra investment to meet current code and Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance.

He said without the added work, the town would risk having to undo or tear up work already done to complete necessary compliance renovations in the future.

Director of Music Michelle Hiscavich, who attended the same meeting, reported that many of the backstage features in the current auditorium are now either obsolete or no longer conform safety or fire code standards.

This week, the finance board was set to approve a $3.6 million special appropriation for the work. Ahead of his scheduled May 28 meeting, which occurred after The Newtown Bee print edition went to press, Chairman John Kortze said that while the auditorium project “originated in an awkward way,” he and his board were not anticipating any further issues with the financial administration and related approvals.

“We’re trying to work together with town and district representatives to accomplish the task at hand,” Mr Kortze said. “I know they are anxious to get started to expedite the work, and to finalize a time line to complete it.”

To help position the Public Building and Site Commission to move on interviewing and recommending an architect for the work, Mr Kortze said the authorization to begin appropriating funds is occurring before the July 1 beginning of the fiscal cycle in which the money is available.

Robert Mitchell, PBSC chairman, told The Bee that at his May 28 meeting, commissioners would likely authorize proceeding with plans to advertise for a project architect and engineer.

“Until the new fiscal year begins on July 1, we can’t engage an architect,” Mr Mitchell said. “But in cooperation with our consultant, we’re preparing the necessary documents to go out to bid for those professional services.”

At that point, things will begin happening more quickly, he said.

“We’ll make sure the bids are promoted, and after we identified the best qualified architect, we’ll prepare to hire them after July 1,” Mr Mitchell said. “This is the same process we’ve used with great success on other local projects. We select the architect on a qualification basis, and then ask them their fees. So if we narrow the field down from ten architects, and we pick the four best to interview, we’ll also know their proposed fees.”

Mr Mitchell said in past projects, this approach had yielded a surprisingly close scope of costs among interested bidders.

“Once we make a selection, request to hire goes to the purchasing authority, and if they are approved, we initiate the hiring process.” He said while this process does not involve bidding in the traditional sense, it provides an opportunity to evaluate the top qualified contenders for the job based on those qualifications and not simply the lowest price.

The review process will be handled by the PBSC and representatives of the Board of Education, he added. Ms Hiscavich and possibly other auditorium users will be consulted during planning and development, Mr Mitchell said.

“We’re hoping to bring all the stage and technical infrastructure up to the level of a good college facility to suit the high quality of performing arts programs we have in town,” he said.

According to a preliminary cost breakdown, the PBSC chairman said about half the budget is earmarked for completing code compliance, with about one-third of the funds being used for fire protection, plumbing, HVAC, and electrical work.

Since the original auditorium was built before heightened ADA compliance was required in public buildings, about 15 percent of the budget will be designated to handicap accessibility and compliance components.

School Superintendent Joseph V. Erardi, Jr is calling this a “renovate to new” project.

“This is a community project and a community partnership,” Dr Erardi told The Bee. “The school board, and all other elected boards, are aligned with the Public Building and Site Commission to ensure an optimal teaching, learning, and viewing environment for everyone to enjoy for decades to come.”

He said the project will have both “extraordinary stewardship,” and will be “an area of pride for the Newtown community.”