BY KARISSA MILLER

Two months ago, the Iredell County Board of Commissioners asked Iredell-Statesville Schools officials to provide them with a breakdown of all costs associated with the construction of Weathers Creek High School.

The school, located at 246 Overcash Road in Troutman, will be designed for a capacity of 1,600 students. The new high school is needed because of rapid growth in the southern end of the county, where Lake Norman High School and South Iredell High School are already at capacity.

Mark Shinkaruk, I-SS chief operations officer, gave a presentation earlier this week to the school board that itemized all of the costs, including some that were not included in the low bid of $143 million.

The revised estimate is $162.2 million.

Shinkaruk, in an interview, explained that the original proposal was $143 million, but was reduced to around $142 million because some of the alternates in the first proposal were removed.

The latest estimate includes $7.5 million for Furniture Fixtures and Equipment (FFE) and an estimated $12.6 million in supplemental costs, such as architect fees.

“A lot of times we’ve been talking about this just being a school, but it really is a fully functional campus with lots of different parts that go to it,” Shinkaruk explained.

Cost Breakdown

Rough estimates for the project include:
• $110 million for the school building and road;
• $7.5 million for Furniture Fixtures and Equipment;
• $17 million for the sitework, utilities, and parking for athletics; and
• $15 million for athletic fields and track (which Shinkaruk explained would likely increase if they are done at a later date).
• Total: $149.5 million

Supplemental Costs

There are other supplemental costs, including:

• $650,000 for Third party testing;
• $2 million for architect’s fees; and
• $10 million for contingency;
• Total: $12,650,000

Overall total: $162.2 million

Itemized Cost breakdown

Under the current construction plans, the project would be split into two or really three phases, Shinkaruk said.

♦ Phase I would consist of the school building, parking lot and creating the loop road for access in and out of the school for $109,911,081.

♦ Phase 1B would consist of “roughing in the other areas of the campus, but still not adding the athletic fields to it,” Shinkaruk explained. This would include sitework, utilities, paving, and concrete for $17,047,158.

♦ Phase 2: The rest of the construction project will be completed in Phase 2. This would include out buildings for athletic facilities, athletic fields and football stadium.

Detailed Phase 2 cost estimates are as follows:
• $4,600,939 football and track complex;
• $1,898,286 field house;
• $1,002,039 home concessions;
• $856,801 visitor concessions;
• $2,411,624 baseball and softball complex;
• $419,557 baseball and softball concessions;
• $2,098,686 practice fields;
• $1,008,169 tennis courts; and
• $402,065 maintenance building.

“The biggest caveat — to all of this,” Shinkaruk said, “is that these are estimates based on current pricing and subject to inflation rates.”

Superintendent Jeff James said that the Iredell County Facilities Task Force charged the school system with building a school building that would last 50-plus years.

“I’m not sure block and paint would be considered Taj Mahal in my world. It’s a building that you can maintain, instead of sheetrock that you will be painting and patching until the building is gone,” James said.

The superintendent mentioned that Lake Norman High School was built in the early 2000s and the district has “spent millions of dollars replacing the roof.”

James said it’s important to invest upfront so that the school board doesn’t have to come back to the taxpayers in 15 or 20 years to have to rebuild a school.

He also pointed out that the cost of construction materials is going down, but the cost of labor is going up because of the shortage of workers.

Funding for Weathers Creek High School

The Iredell Commissioners have committed to financing $120 million for the new high school. The school will be funded through an $80 million school bond sale approved by voters in 2020, and $40 million in general obligation bonds.

Commissioners have not stated whether they are willing to spend more than $120 million for the school or where the additional funding would come from. 

I-SS Board Chairman Bill Howell said the school district has brought the commissioners solutions, but many of those options were rejected. He said the ball is now in their court and they will be the ones to ultimately decide what the school will cost.

“You can pay me now or you can pay me later,” Howell said. “If you pay me later, it’s going to be more — I guarantee.”