Now that Superintendent Dr. Timothy Jenney has the green light to pursue his Global Science and Technology Center vision, his next challenge will be to design it within financial parameters set by his school board.
The total capital cost of the center – which is to include a planetarium, giant rotating lobby globe, interactive labs and a “Sci-Max” theater – have been estimated by a district-appointed feasibility committee at $26.4 million, while annual operating costs are estimated at $572,000.
So when Fort Bend Independent School District Board President Sonal Bhuchar said Monday night that she pressed the administration to agree to limit construction costs to “no more than $22 million,” it sounded at first blush as if the board was demanding a more austere vision than Jenney had laid out.
However, a glance at the 95-page report the feasibility committee issued indicates the construction cost mandate might not be so difficult to meet after all.
A subcommittee headed by Fluor Corp. Controller Gary Moseley estimated construction costs of the science center at $19.8 million – $2.2 million less than the cost cap written into a resolution governing procedures for building and financing the center, which was approved unanimously by the FBISD Board of Trustees Monday night.
District administrators and board members have seldom if ever mentioned the projected size of the two-story center, planned for a space now occupied by parking lots adjacent to the district’s current Lexington Boulevard administration offices.
The feasibility study also does not specify the building’s size. It does, however, estimate the current design at a cost of $219 per square foot. Assuming total building cost of $19.8 million, that would mean the FBISD science center would be comprised of about 90,343 square feet.
A per-square-foot cost of $219 would make the building significantly more expensive than new county office buildings recently erected in Richmond for about $130 per square foot – but significantly less expensive than the county justice center, on which ground was officially broken yesterday, and which carries an estimated cost of $270 per square foot.
What boosts the science center’s estimated total capital cost beyond its $19.8 million construction price tag are equipment costs estimated at just over $3 million, and “miscellaneous and soft costs” of about $3.6 million, the feasibility study shows.
Those soft costs include $1.6 million for furniture and fixtures in the new building, $460,000 for “material testing, geotechnical and topographic surveys,” and $1.4 million in professional fees.
Topping the list of equipment costs is an estimated $1.2 million for seating and other equipment in the 250-person planetarium.
Another $450,000 would go for theater equipment and a screen in the Sci-Max theater; $410,000 would be spent on three windmills listed as part of a “solar exhibit/electric generator;” $380,000 would be spent on audio/video equipment for a lecture and multi-purpose room; $350,000 would be spent on “technology for earth globe” and digital flat-screen panels; and $225,000 would go to pay for a 12 by 18-foot digital marquee.
As for construction costs, the largest portion ($6.2 million) would go for 16 science labs, “prep rooms, storage rooms and office.”
Another $5.4 million would cover the cost of “mechanical rooms, electrical rooms, corridors and exterior walls,” the feasibility study estimates.
The planetarium and “support spaces” would cost $1.9 million to build, while an “earth science interactive exhibit hall and storage room” would cost $1.6 million. The lecture and multi-purpose room is estimated at $1.2 million; concrete paving for sidewalks, an “outdoor learning courtyard” and an “outdoor fountain/Eco/Learning Pond” would cost another $820,000.
Moseley’s subcommittee also ran calculations for an alternative to the science center – adding one lab and one “prep room” to 47 FBISD elementary and middle schools that don’t currently have them. The total cost of that alternative would be more than $27 million, although it not only includes 47 labs and 47 prep rooms, it also includes 47 new 550-square-foot classrooms and more than $12.5 million in equipment and furniture.
Salaries for a science center staff top the list of annual operating and maintenance costs, at $200,000, with electricity coming in second at $176,000.
One cost that appears not to be mentioned in the feasibility study is that of transporting each FBISD student in grades 2 through 8 to and from the science center four to six times per year.
The feasibility study hasn’t been made available on the district’s web site, but is available at the district’s offices for a small copying fee.
My preference is money well spent; and to get more bang for the buck. If the numbers are cast in a manner to exhibit that: “adding one lab and one “prep room” to 47 FBISD elementary and middle schools” to be more expensive; however, in the long run to have children remain on their respective campuses and have increased science lab opportunities with staff already in place and, even, if more staff is needed , it is far more preferable and appropriate to add additional school staff where the children are daily and constantly; rather than to add more building staff where children are only there, optionally, and/or come in a field trip type manner. To have children in attendance, on campus, at their respective schools is “not an option”; however, to schedule children to go to a building away from campus becomes an optional decision in that it takes on the characteristics of a field trip type endeavor; plus, anytime a student gets on a bus or any type transport that is beyond his/her designated transport to and from his/her respective school and/or not under the jurisdiction or provision of a student’s parent, then, it become a field trip type endeavor requiring parent approval and requesting that parents release the school/ and/or school district from liability in case of accident and/or any type mishap during transport, etc. Of course this is my humble, common sense opinion, and since my mind is a logical mind of intellect, it does not understand illogical confusion. So those minds which have understanding of illogical confusion, then so be it and carry on.
In summary, based upon the aforementioned as well as to add in Joe’s perspective point about the not mentioned cost “of transporting each FBISD student in grades 2 through 8 to and from the science center four to six times per year.” Well, Joe makes an excellent insightful, assessment regarding that expense not added to the mix. So actually, we still do not which is less and which is more, although, a fast mental assessment points the way. As stated, previously in other commentaries, the logical, intelligent mind cannot wrap itself around any presentation that is illogical and confused. Je ne sais quoi. I remain in a quandary.
Did they include the extra time teachers would need for professional development yearly or the time required for substitute teachers to cover their other classes or the time lost before or after the class that is going to the science disney center?
I’m sure the district will make the teachers contribute that time also… free of charge… just add the days to their contract!
Thank you Bob. What you said below is most telling:
Moseley’s subcommittee also ran calculations for an alternative to the science center – adding one lab and one “prep room” to 47 FBISD elementary and middle schools that don’t currently have them. The total cost of that alternative would be more than $27 million, although it not only includes 47 labs and 47 prep rooms, it also includes 47 new 550-square-foot classrooms and more than $12.5 million in equipment and furniture.
One cost that appears not to be mentioned in the feasibility study is that of transporting each FBISD student in grades 2 through 8 to and from the science center four to six times per year.
WOW… I wish that I was surprised.