Council trims elementary budget

Recent design modifications to the Cannon Beach Elementary School rejuvenation project have shaved around $800,000 off the project’s budget.

The team in charge of the project detailed the decisions leading to those cost savings and an-swered questions submitted by the community at a meeting on March 19.

The revisions came following persistent public concern and opposition from citizens over the project’s estimated budget of $12 million.

The largest budget reduction came thanks to a revision of the landscaping plan for the site, with those changes saving over $215,000. Previously, plans had called for a more complex gar-den, but councilors voted to simplify the garden with an eye on the project’s bottom line and limiting the cost of maintaining a garden that will be frequented by elk.

Another big-ticket, cost-saving measure was the removal of a planned generator, to be re-placed with a dock capable of easily accommodating a portable generator, saving almost $136,000.

Other changes included reducing the number of doors in the building’s classrooms from three to two, substituting concrete for tile in restrooms at the facility, reducing the budget for interi-or light fixtures and repainting the gym instead of media blasting.

In total, the changes were estimated to cut around $836,000 from the project’s budget, alt-hough councilors nixed the proposed removal of screens from the facility, projected to save over $47,000, noting that people using the space would be unlikely to bring their own.

Representatives from CIDA Architects, who oversee the project’s design, also answered ques-tions about potential further cost savings from the audience.

The two biggest questions were whether the project could leave restrooms in their current lo-cation or collocate them near the project’s kitchen to cut down on cost.

The team said that the construction of the mezzanine level above the current restrooms is not up to code and that until it was brought up to code the restrooms could not be used. Addition-ally, the project’s design calls for the north wall of the gym, where the restrooms currently stand, to have windows and exterior doorways to enable more uses of the gymnasium space.

Project team members said that the new lobby space located between the gym and classroom building would not be large enough to house both the kitchen and bathroom.