Aquatic Center cost surpasses $20 million

by Jennie Oemig

Though the doors have been open to the public for months, the subcontractors working on the Pinedale Aquatic Center (PAC) will be completing the final punch list by the end of the month, leaving the district with a $20 million facility.

“It’s amazing,” Sublette County School District (SCSD) #1 business manager Vern McAdams said. “You finish a building and you’re still not done.”

As of Monday, McAdams said the total cost of the building was around $20.5 million, a price tag that rose exponentially from the time the project began.

“That includes all of the change order items that I know of,” he said. “ … When we first started, we were talking about $10 [million].” But McAdams said that once the architects started designing the building, the cost rose above what was originally planned. “The contracts ran about $17 to $18 million,” he said, adding that the district also made alterations that raised the guaranteed maximum price of the facility. “Of course, we did a bunch of change orders. We took some stuff out and put some stuff in.”

And with more construction projects on the horizon, McAdams said he is pleased that the PAC is finally near completion. “I think we’re getting close to putting this [construction project] to rest … just in time for the next one,” he said during the Sublette County School District (SCSD) #1 Board of Trustees meeting on June 12, referring to the commencement of the new elementary school project.

And with only a couple items left to be completed at PAC, the district can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. “They’re about done,” he said on Monday. “Last week, [SCSD #1 construction manager] Dennis Seipp told me there were about two items left on the punch list.” With the retiling of the current channel earlier this month and the landscaping almost finished, McAdams said the district is also getting close to the end of seeing change orders for PAC on the school board agendas.

“You’ll see one change order next month,” McAdams informed the board. “And I hope that’s the last one.”