Wichita BOE approves $1.5 million project for McLean Elementary

McLean Elementary School will get a $1.5 million addition as part of a bond project approved Monday.

The Wichita school board voted 5-1 to approve a contract with Walz Harman Huffman Construction to build a new library and renovate the student support center at McLean, a science and technology magnet near 21st Street and Amidon. The library addition will double as a storm shelter.

McLean, built in 1955, was expanded in 1977 and again in 2003, as part of the district’s 2000 bond issue, said Kenton Cox, architect with Schaefer Johnson Cox Frey.

About 263 students in kindergarten through fifth grade attend McLean. The school’s current library could be converted into classrooms or computer labs, Cox said, but that was not part of the project approved Monday.

Board member Joy Eakins voted against the contract after voicing concerns about the project being changed after the bidding process closed. According to district records, Walz Harman Huffman’s bid was only $6,000 lower than the next lowest bid, from Construction Services Bryant Inc.

Cox said the winning bid was above the district’s budgeted amount, so bond managers worked with Walz Harman Huffman on some “value engineering” changes to lower the overall cost.

“In fairness to our bidders, I’m just wondering: Do we have a sense of, if this modified project were given to Construction Services Bryant Inc., would their bid then have ended up being lower?” Eakins said.

The district’s policy “has not been to work with anybody other than the low bidder,” Cox said, “so that’s the direction we’ve gone.”

The alternative, Cox said, would be to rebid the project, which could increase the overall price and further delay construction.

McLean’s new library and renovated offices should be complete by next August, he said.

This story was originally published November 24, 2014 at 8:11 PM with the headline "Wichita BOE approves $1.5 million project for McLean Elementary."