The extensive renovation plans for historic New Kent County High School could provide local service companies such as HMS Plumbing with interesting business opportunities. The stripping of plumbing, mechanical and electrical systems is only part of the identified restoration work, which also includes adapting the school building for an elementary school (years 3 through 5) as well as repairing the roofing, masonry and windows and adding 3000 square feet of administrative space at the entrance.
Works on the school are, however, currently on hold, due to a disagreement between the high school’s board and the school district’s Board of Supervisors. The rift is due to the Board of Supervisors approving and taking over the next phase of the renovation process independently, something to which the school officials did not take lightly. A memo was sent by the latter party to their supervising entity, demanding that they turn ownership of the project back over to the New Kent County High School Board, a demand, which was deferred until the Board’s following meeting on October 15.
The decision to take over the renovation work was made in a Board of Supervisors meeting on September 28th, a scarce two months after the decision to turn the project over to the school had been similarly reached. According to an official from the entity, the reversal had to do with the fact that some of the estimated fees presented by the school, for hiring an architect, for example, were considered extreme and excessive, risking taking the project beyond its estimated $8.5 million budget. The school then claimed that this number was just that, an estimate, and that hard numbers had not been presented to the Board of Supervisors, since the school board had been moving to their new building and had not yet had the chance to come up with more concrete figures for each of the areas of this project.
Aside from budget discrepancies, the two entities also failed to see eye-to-eye regarding the nature of this project, which further corroded the relationship between them and further delayed the start of Phase 2 of renovation work on the school. However, provided that this situation comes to a swift conclusion and that the two parties agree, companies such as HMS Plumbing can still look forward to potentially lucrative contracts in the near future.
About HMS Plumbing:
HMS Plumbing is based in Northern Virginia, USA, and provides plumbing services to a number of surrounding counties. Learn more at www.hmsplumbing.com .
Contact Details:
10319 Piper Lane
Manassas, VA 20110
+1 703-583-8205
[email protected]
