Contractor chosen for Shewmaker addition
Posted on Friday, September 5, 2008
BENTONVILLE - Northwest Arkansas Community College is a major step closer to constructing its latest building, the Shewmaker Center for Global Business Development.
A contract manager was given preliminary approval Thursday morning during the college's Land Use and Facilities Committee meeting. Flintco was chosen from six companies to be the construction manager. The six companies were interviewed by a small college committee in late August, board member Joe Spivey said.
The college is utilizing a relatively new construction delivery method in which a general contractor is chosen as construction manager for a project. The construction manager hires subcontractors, then is able to provide the user (in this case, the college ) with a hard-fast, set price for constructing the building. The construction manager, as in the case of NWACC's latest project, is usually hired as final construction documents are being developed. The construction manager can then give insight into what cost savings might not only be necessary but are available in the building's design.
The traditional method of construction delivery calls for all the construction documents to be completed by an architect, who then submits the plans for construction companies to bid on the project. At first glance, the biggest noticeable difference between the two methods is that a construction manager is chosen based on qualifications, and the traditional will do the hiring. The foundation is taking out a loan for the building, which is being constructed on land the foundation is leasing from the college. The foundation will, in turn, donate the building to the college once construction is complete.
Groundbreaking for the Shewmaker Center for Global Business Development, which will be next to the Shewmaker Center for Workforce Technologies, is scheduled for Sept. 11.
In other facility-related news, the committee discussed potential plans for the college to rent space at the former St. Mary's Hospital in Rogers. The college has been in negotiations with Mercy Health System and a yet-tobe-officially-named nonprofit entity that is taking over the hospital. The plan is to turn the building into a center for multiple nonprofit agencies, with NWACC potentially being the anchor tenant. The college and Mercy are still examining renovation costs, which could be anywhere from $ 20 to $ 70 per square foot, depending on which program is planned for a given space.
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