This is the concept for the auditorium at Newport High School, which will be built using part of the west parking lot sloping down to the school’s tennis courts. (Capri Architecture)The Lincoln County School District board has selected contractors to build 310- to 325-seat auditoriums at Newport, Waldport and Toledo high schools.
The projects are the centerpieces of a $73 million building bond approved by voters last May.
Three companies will serve as construction managers/general contractors for the projects, working with two architecture firms to complete the designs, make estimates and then refine the costs, said Rich Belloni, the district’s facilities director.
The school board last week approved the recommendations of a selection panel to have Fortis Construction of Portland be the general contractor for the Newport High auditorium, for DSL Builders of Salem to manage and build the Waldport auditorium, and for Todd Construction of Portland to build the Toledo auditorium.
The selection panel recommended the three from among eight firms that submitted construction management/general contractor proposals. Firms that did not get the board’s approval have until Friday to appeal the selection.
The board last week also approved contracts for Glas Architects of Eugene to complete the designs of the Toledo and Waldport auditoriums and for Capri Architecture of Newport to complete the design of the Newport auditorium.
District officials hope contractors can begin some site work this summer and the have auditoriums open by September 2027, although that schedule is aggressive and could be moved back. The 12,000-square-foot auditoriums are expected to cost up to $12 million each.
Belloni said the construction companies will work with the architects to put together an auditorium price sometime in March and then go over with the district how to likely pare the costs back. The district has also hired an independent estimator to make its own cost comparisons, he said.
— Quinton Smith/Lincoln Chronicle
