“They shafted us. They’re arguing about windows and they’re arguing about dollars when I have a daughter who graduates this year and will not be prepared.”
That’s what Eastern Guilford parent Patricia Riggs told the N&R after the Guilford County school board met last night to discuss options for students displaced by the Nov. 1 fire.
I’m not sure what meeting Riggs was attending, but the board certainly was discussing more than windows during last night’s meeting. GCS consultant Joe Hill described in great detail what would be involved in renovating the building to meet the more restrictive state education codes even under a lease agreement.
The N&R reported that it would be “at least $4.7 million” to lease and renovate space at the Carolina Corporate Center. That’s technically true, but it’s also based on the $20 per square foot renovation costs floated by Florida Realty Investments which, by the way, wanted to sell the school system a $24 million building for $40 million. GCS staff estimated a cost of $50 per square foot at the high end and $40 per square foot at the low end for even temporary renovations. While calculating the numbers himself, school board chairman Alan Duncan said he agreed with the staff’s assessment that $40 per square foot was the most conservative renovation cost, bringing in a two-year lease agreement at $7.6 million.
So the $3.1 million for the pod system on land next the new Eastern construction site is considerably cheaper than leasing Carolina Corporate Center. There is one cheaper option, however — a tent city in the middle of a field.
