Equipment for High School Gym Project Delayed for Months

By all public accounts over the last several months, the $15 million gym project at was going smoothly.

This week it became apparent that hasn't been the case for months, and the could be headed to litigation with one of its contractors.

But district officials say they remain optimistic the combination gym/community center will be open by the start of the next school year.

School board member Ralph Douglass asked administrators at Wednesday's board meeting about the progress of the project. District business manager Jack Myers answered with a reference to equipment being delivered on a “slow boat.” Myers and Superintendent Bill Gretzula said they still expect the gym ready for the fall but did not get into many details.

On Thursday, Myers told Patch that heating/ventilation/air conditioning equipment manufactured by Petra, being shipped from Jordan, has not arrived.

“Their stuff, quality-wise, is among the best in the field and we have it in a couple other buildings, however this stuff has been promised and re-promised. Some of the the stories have been ridiculous,” he said.

Myers said that while several containers worth of HVAC equipment have arrived, all of it was expected here six to nine months ago.

“If you don't have the HVAC equipment to put on the roof and hook up with the duct work, you can't do the stuff underneath like the floor,” he said.

“All of the contractors are upset because it's holding up their work,” he added.

Nonetheless, he said, the surface of the recreational track on the second floor of the gym has been installed along with railings.

“It's not like they're sitting around doing nothing,” he said.

And Petra recently agreed, Myers said, to provide temporary units at no extra cost to the district to cool the building so that the wood for the gym floor can get acclimated .

“We plan to start putting the floor down next Tuesday,” he said.

The latest word, Myers said, is that the HVAC equipment should be arriving in New York in a week to ten days.

“After that, there's no telling how long it takes to get through customs,” he added.

Nonetheless, Myers said he's not comfortable saying the fall opening of the 45,000-square-foot facility is in jeopardy.

“We're still wishing for and have every intention of opening at the beginning of the school year. We would have liked to see it open earlier,” he said.

Ground was first broken in July 2009. Myers said the district had been aiming for “substantial completion” by April 1, with a grand opening in late summer or early fall.

“I'm optimistic if, in fact, the latest stories are correct, it should allow them to finish in that time frame,” he said Thursday.

And if the latest stories don't come to fruition, what is Plan B?

“We're already on Plan C. I don't have an answer to your question,” Myers answered. “It will probably result in litigation.”