Update on status and budget

The stadium replacement project at Santa Barbara High School is really starting to take shape.  The contractor has finished everything that is below grade, and the new grandstands are now very prominent.  Structural steel, concrete columns, and decking are being placed to support the cast in place concrete seating sections, and the retaining walls surrounding the entire complex are complete. 

While the recent rains have provided welcome relief to our drought situation, they have had a negative impact on the construction schedule.  To date there have been fifty-two rain days since the beginning of the project, with more rain projected through the end of March. And, as reported at an earlier Board meeting, an error by one of the sub-contractors resulted in temporary shoring being placed in the wrong location.  This was a significant impact because the shoring had to be completely removed and reconstructed.  There was no cost impact for the district, but two months were required to correct the situation.  Currently, the project sits at 75% complete when it should be nearly 90%.

Impact on graduation

Even though the contractor has been working very hard to recover the lost time, it has become apparent that the project will not be complete in time for graduation 2019. We have been working with staff at SBHS to ensure that graduation can again be held at the Santa Barbara County Bowl.  The project will pay for the cost of the bowl.  We also plan to use the parking lots at the Armory to help ease the congestion in surrounding neighborhoods.  We will be working with the staff at the bowl to help make the graduation run more smoothly this year, including offering a shuttle service from the Armory to the Bowl, and back.

Considering the time impacts above, the revised completion date for the project is August 2019.  At the April 2 Board meeting there will be an item on the action agenda to approve a change order extending the construction schedule, and addressing the cost of some issues that were discovery items during construction. There will also be an item to approve the contact with SB Bowl for graduation.

Conclusion

The Peabody Stadium Project is our largest, most complex bond project.  It has had significant challenges related to construction, and has been impacted severely by the Thomas Fire and Debris flow incidents last December and January, and many rain days. On a positive note, the project is still on track to be completed under budget. To date, construction change orders on the project amount to $206,265, or 0.7% of the $28,764,392 construction budget.