BHS Auditorium Renovation Update Dear Beachwood Community: Last October, the School District retained the architectural firm Westlake Reed Leskosky to redesign the Beachwood High School auditorium. At that time, the project was scheduled to be completed by the fall of 2015. Since then, WRL met with various stakeholders and developed a custom design for our auditorium that features new staging and seating configurations, as well as state-of-the-art lighting and sound along with other enhancements. We are confident in the direction of our design and that the auditorium will be the premiere performing arts venue that our community expects and deserves. Concurrent with the design process, the District retained the construction firm The Albert M. Higley Co. to act as the construction manager using a method known as “Construction Manager at Risk.”The CMAR process, among other things, requires the construction manager to set a “Guaranteed Maximum Price” that is intended to avoid disputes with subcontractors and unforeseen costs. Following this delivery method over the past several months has not produced these anticipated benefits. Therefore, after conferring with our owner’s representative and legal counsel, the Administration has determined that continuing with this project under the CMAR method is not in the best interest of the district. Accordingly, the Beachwood City School District has terminated its agreement with The Albert M. Higley Co. and will be entering into a new agreement under a “Construction Manager as Advisor” method. By making this change, the Board and Administration of the Beachwood City School District anticipate saving several hundred thousand taxpayer dollars. Any fees paid to the CMAR as the result of terminating the contract are nominal. Information yielded to date from the CMAR process has value in moving forward with this new method. By state law, the District must advertise for the new construction manager, with whom we are prepared to move forward immediately utilizing the design developed by WRL. However, due to the change in the construction delivery method, we will no longer meet the anticipated opening date this fall. The Board and Administration strive to finish all projects on time and within budget. We are cognizant that the lack of an auditorium is an inconvenience. However, we refuse to compromise taxpayer dollars just to say that we finished on time. We remain committed to providing our community with the quality project it deserves. As always, we thank you for your understanding and support. We promise to keep you informed as we continue with the auditorium project. Lower Bowl Upper Bowl Beachwood Board of Education Mitchel E. Luxenburg, President Dr. Brian Weiss, Vice President Joshua Mintz, Member Steve Rosen, Member Michael Zawatsky, Member Beachwood Schools Administration Richard A. Markwardt, Ph.D., Superintendent Michele E. Mills, Treasurer Robert P. Hardis, Assistant Superintendent June 2015 n Beachwood Buzz 39