The latest issue of The Rhino Times details the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School Board rubber-stamping a $9 million cost overrun for the new Mallard Creek high school. The new facility will now cost $60 million, further pushing CMS’ cost per square foot out-of-line with the rest of the state. The cost is also millions more than the price tag for the new Ardrey Kell project, another 2,000-seat high school which is just a few months further ahead in the construction cycle.
CMS blames a sharp increase in the cost of materials for the difference. But there is another difference. The general contractor on the Ardrey Kell project is White Construction. At Mallard Creek it is Rodgers Builders.
You might recall Rodgers Builders from previous overruns for the ImaginOn Uptown library and the new Catawba River Whitewater Center. Both cost millions more than planned.
Funny, when you are spending someone else’s money, such things do not matter.
