The Gainesville City School Board approved the Guaranteed Maximum Price contract for a brand new student activities center at the high school at their work session Monday night.
The GMP, by Caroll Daniel Construction, totals $19,999,431, which is just under budget of the $20 million the school system planned for.
"If believe when you look at the recommendation of the GMP as a whole, about $10 million is between masonry, steel, HVAC, and electrical," said Superintendent Jeremy Williams. "Some of that is driven by the cost of masonry right now."
The new Student Activities Center is a three-story building that will physically take the place of the alumni gym and the football center. It will host the football, band and NJROTC programs, as well as other athletics, and have a gym, locker rooms, classrooms and meeting space.
"Our goal is to provide the best for all of our kids, and we do not want to put something out there that the kid is not going to be excited about," said Williams. "So with the Student Activities Center, it is a location to really house our large scale programs."
The board also voted to approve an AOA Properties Easement for the new middle school on McEver Road. The proposal said an easement is needed and the school system will maintain the easement.
