New 5-6 Intermediate School Building
College Community School District, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Project Overview
| Owner | College Community School District |
|---|---|
| Location | Cedar Rapids, Iowa |
| Delivery Method | Construction Management Agency |
| Description | New Construction |
| Gross Floor Area | 189,000 SF |
The Board of Education of the College CSD, which serves rural communities and suburbs south of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as well as areas on the city's south side, selected Carl A. Nelson & Company as its construction manager for a new, $42.5 million and 189,500 SF intermediate school for students in grades five and six. Construction of the new Prairie Creek Intermediate School began in May 2021, with completion achieved in the summer of 2023.
- New 1,300-student fifth- and sixth-grade intermediate school, delivered on-time and on-budget despite pre-construction beginning just week's into pandemic-related shutdowns in the spring of 2020.
- Carl A. Nelson & Company was chosen over two other firms based on qualifications to provide College CSD with construction management agency services, marking the district's first-ever use of that delivery method.
- The new Prairie Creek Intermediate School's completion positions the district to meet 20 years of anticipated future enrollment growth.
The CANCO project team stepped into an environment with an established district design partner that had already spent significant time on schematic design. Through our team members' experience with pre-construction services, including value engineering, the building plan was refined to bring it closer to the available project budget. This was thanks in large measure to more than $2.1 million in value engineering opportunities identified by the CANCO team during pre-construction. - Aggressive marketing to potential bidders, each of the 20 bid packages received multiple submissions at bid opening. The result of these efforts was total construction cost that was more than $3 million under budget.
- Based on its performance during pre-construction on the initial project, Carl A. Nelson & Company was selected by College CSD to provide Construction Management Agency services on a second project on the campus — remodeling and expanding the previous Prairie Creek school, which is being converted for use as a ninth-grade and alternative school attendance center, plus CTE renovations in the high school. Work on that project is in-progress, with completion anticipated in August of 2024.
The new Prairie Creek Intermediate School project for College Community School District was highlighted in the 2023 Year-in-Review edition of our wibi newsletter for the K-12 market in Iowa. Click the cover image to view the e-edition, or read about it in CANCO News.
Celebrations and Testimonials
Groundbreaking
“(Carl A. Nelson & Company’s) knowledge of how design translates to the jobsite and the budget greatly assisted in value-engineering a building that maximizes opportunities for students while coming in at budget.”
— Dr. Douglas Wheeler, Superintendent
Ribbon-cutting
“(CANCO) working with the contractors, working with the design team, being on-site every day, I just think helped to make things go smoother. I think problems were solved in a manner that was within the vision and the scope of the project, but also cost-effective. I think that was really helpful to us.”
— Dr. Douglas Wheeler, Superintendent