CHAFFEE SCHOOL ADDITION BEHIND DEADLINE

CHAFFEE -- Construction on a 14,000-square-foot addition to Chaffee High School will run past the mid-April contract deadline.

Two outside and several inside walls, plus a roof have to be built before any inside work can begin.

Dennis Quertermous of Bertrand, the masonry subcontractor on the $778,000 project, hopes the block work will be done by the last part of April.

Rodney Bridger, project manager for Bridger Construction Co. of Sikeston, said the work has been a "little bit behind schedule."

He attributes the delays to some bad weather days and difficulties in finding good construction laborers and working out schedules with subcontractors. He said it was several little things that have added to the delay.

Bridger expects to have the roof completed within two weeks so the inside finish work can begin and expects the whole project will be done by mid-June.

Bridger's contract with the Chaffee School District called for the project to be completed within 240 days, 60 days less than other bidders on the project. Varying lengths for completing a project is usual in the bidding process, Bridger said.

Denny Owens was named the new superintendent on the project this week, Bridger said. He expects Owens to do a good job of keeping the work going.

Chaffee School Superintendent Ernie Lawson said the school board will have to decide whether to allow a contract extension, adding that it is "very unusual" to have so much work to do with just three weeks left in the contract period.

The penalty in the contract for running past the deadline is $200 per day. Lawson said the $12,000 that it would cost Bridger to run 60 days over the deadline was a minimal amount on this large a project.

Lawson said the school district has time to spare on the addition because it won't be used until the beginning of the next school year. But he wants the addition completed in plenty of time to get it ready for classes in August.

"There's still a lot to do," Lawson said. "But there shouldn't be too many delays from now on."

The new addition will contain an industrial technologies classroom and workshop, a band and music room, a home economics classroom and a computer lab. The building will also house several offices, storage areas and restrooms.

The new addition to replace the old arts building is being paid for on a lease-purchase plan for 10 years. The addition is on the site of the old high school, which was abandoned seven years ago and demolished last year.