Update Blacksburg High School

November 2, 2010

11/3/2010 1
 Background/History
 Gym collapsed Feb. 13, 2010
 Initial effort was to return students to school, find the cause for the
collapse, and remove collapsed gym roof
 To reoccupy the building the cause of collapse had to be identified
and the building evaluated that it could be reoccupied
 OWPR, who assisted with the response to collapse, was contracted
to evaluate building
 Initially it appeared that main building was not damaged by the
collapse and once gym was removed and some building repairs
made, students could return to the building
 As building plans and specifications were reviewed it was
determined that some structural items did not match specifications

11/3/2010 2
 Background/History
 During the past several months numerous questions, concerns,
myths, cost estimates, and scenarios have been discussed and
presented
 All rumors, questions, and concerns cannot be answered
without further evaluation and testing to determine the facts
 From the code review, fire inspection, and discussions it
appears that the building will not be approved without
additional changes and upgrades
 The following will review, summarize, add, and update options
for BHS
 Option A - Repair Estimate
 Option B - Full Renovation
 Option C - New Construction

Note: All costs listed are estimates and not based on bids

11/3/2010 3
 Building Official Items

“The following items would also be required to be completed and/or verified

prior to re-occupancy of the BHS.” Memorandum 9/29/10 from Cathy
Cook, Building Safety Official, to Robert Carpenter, Project Manager
MBP

a. “ Plans did not show building code analysis for the building. Architect
shall provide this information to the Building Official’s office.”

 Response: The State Department of Education was the review and

regulatory agency for Blacksburg High School. File correspondence
shows that there was a code review performed by the State
Department of Education in 1970 and early 1971. Robert L. Mills
responded to this review in February, 1971, apparently after a
meeting with Department of Education staff in Richmond. There was
an official Statement of Approval issued by the State Department of
Education on March 15, 1971. This clearly represents that a code
review was done at the State level, and that codes and regulations
in effect were found to have been in compliance. Until a design is
presented for approval, there will be question of the scope of
current code to changes made to the building.
11/3/2010 4
 Cost – to be determined through architect review.
 Building Official Items
b. “All structural elements shall be verified that they meet the
required standards at the time of construction (1969 Southern
Building Code).”

 Response: This area will require further discussion and

review and a cost cannot be estimated at this time. This will
be related to code review for which items need to be verified.

 Cost – cannot be determined at this time. Term structural

elements needs to be clarified.

11/3/2010 5
 Building Official Items
c. “ 1 hour rated walls, partitions required by the 1969 Southern
Building Code, Section 1106 shall be re-installed. These areas
shall meet the requirements for Fire resistive construction, Type
II., Table 603.1 partitions, Section 702.2 and Section 702.”

 Response: Note that the 1969 SSBC was not the governing
design code. The plans for the construction of Blacksburg
High School were reviewed and approved by the State to be
in conformance with the codes and regulations in effect at
that time. Upon review of the Virginia Fire Safety Regulations
and the School Planning Manual, rated walls/partitions are
not required in most areas of the school. Rated walls
indicated on the design documents will be verified and
repaired if necessary. Also the amount of repair work or
renovation could create requirement to comply with current
code.

 Cost – related to code analysis and cannot be determined at

this time.
11/3/2010 6
 Building Official Items
d. “Work without permits - we have been informed that new
classrooms, other rooms, additional walls and structural repairs
have been constructed without permits. Please submit a plan
showing the locations of all new walls and rooms etc. that have
been constructed. These areas shall meet the requirements for
Fire resistive construction, Type II., Table 603.1 partitions, Section
702.2 and Section 702.”

 Response: Main item is walls that were added to separate

classrooms. Walls were constructed of wood framing and
sheetrock that does not fully comply with fire code. Record
cannot be found that determines approval at the time work
was completed. Also changes to bathrooms and storage
areas. List is not all inclusive at this time.

11/3/2010 7
 Cost - $158,400 to date.
 Building Official Items
e. “ Heating Ventilation/Air Conditioning (HVAC) - an air balancing
report will be required to be submitted for the entire school due to
numerous complaints received by this department. Primary purpose of
the air balancing report is to verify fresh air requirements for all
classrooms and other areas as well as the new rooms and areas
created.”

 Response: The School Board is currently considering replacing

the entire HVAC system. If this is done, the new HVAC system
will be designed to the current code, which includes testing and
balancing requirements. Any new design and test and balancing
reports will be submitted to the Town of Blacksburg as required.
Should the School Board choose to reoccupy the building
without replacing the HVAC system, OWPR recommends
complete testing and balancing of the existing system, and
subsequent correction of any deficiencies discovered.

 Cost to replace - $3,300,000

11/3/2010 8
 Building Official Items
f. “Corridors- during our previous site visits it has been noted that
the required 1 hour firewalls, and other rated walls have been
damaged and/or breeched. They shall be re-established. These
areas shall meet the requirements for Fire resistive construction,
Type II., Table 603.1 partitions, Section 702.2 and Section 702.”

 Response: See the response to C above.

 Cost – is related to code analysis and cannot be determined

at this time.

11/3/2010 9
 Building Official Items
g. “Additional investigation is required - Reports from ATS,
Schnabel and Forcon - additional borings as stated in reports
shall be performed. Footers, as stated in reports shall be
investigated and verified and will need to be inspected and loads
verified per the reports.”

 Response: Additional soil borings in reports will be

completed. Inspection and verification of footers as listed in
reports will be as required by code.

 Estimated cost is - $7,290 for outside of building.

11/3/2010 10
 Building Official Items
h. “Math area - this office has been informed that there was a
significant void under this area of the building and concrete was
placed to fill the void. Please verify whether there was a void, and
if so, how the void was corrected. We want to ensure that there is
not currently a void underneath the Math area or any repair
performed met code requirements.”

 Response: Resistivity imaging will be done on this area.

Results of tests will be used to determine need for borings or
additional testing.

 Cost - $3,850

11/3/2010 11
 Building Official Items
i. “Child day care - during recent site visits it was noticed that the
addition of a child day care area has been created. This office
has no records of approving this change. Must verify that the
child day care area meets all requirements of the building code.”

 Response: This area was part of the original design, and has
existed since the school opened. It was approved by the
State as part of the original design. Some changes over the
years may need to be verified.

 Cost - is not available at this time.

11/3/2010 12
 Building Official Items
j. “Verify Occupant Load - Architect shall verify occupant load in
accordance with the 1969 Southern Building Code for this
structure.”

 Response: The design occupant load, which is prescribed by

the Virginia Fire Safety Regulations, yields a much greater
occupancy capacity than the actual expected occupant load
(or expected student enrollment). Only considering egress
doors out of main egress routes (at 150 occupants per 36”
door leaf), the egress capacity is approximately 4,200
occupants. The doors are the most restrictive egress
component of the exit ways. Current Blacksburg High School
enrollment is 1,077, per Montgomery County Public Schools.
This will require extensive time to recalculate the occupancy
load by room and will require a contract to do this work.

 Cost - is not available at this time.

11/3/2010 13
 Building Official Items
k. “Property Maintenance Violations - please be aware that
property maintenance violations noted during inspection will be
required to be corrected.”

 Response: See separate 17 page report completed by the

Blacksburg Fire Department and Building Official. Note
many of the repair items are related to the building not being
occupied and other work on the building.

 Cost is - $70,000 plus.

11/3/2010 14
 Building Official Items
l. “This is not a complete list. We are still gathering information, all
testing is not complete and additional corrections may be warranted
after all tests and through inspection of the facility has been
completed. We will be reviewing the original plans to determine if
any other corrections will be required.”

 Cost – cannot be determined at this time.

11/3/2010 15
 Plan A
Description Construction Est. Design/CM Contingency Total Budget

Testing of Concrete Beams $ 95,000 $ 20,000 $ 9,500 $ 124,500

Demolition/Repair Walls for Testing $ 325,000 $ 14,000 $ 32,500 $ 371,500

Tear off/Patch Roof for Testing $ 259,000 $ 9,000 $ 25,900 $ 293,900

OWPR's Category 1 Items $ 141,000 $ 3,000 $ 14,100 $ 158,100

Wall Settlement Repairs $ 66,000 $ 3,000 $ 6,600 $ 75,600

Auditorium Roof Structural Repairs $ 170,000 $ 8,000 $ 17,000 $ 195,000

Deficient Concrete Beams Repair $ 3,400,000 $ 148,000 $ 340,000 $ 3,888,000

Replace Roof after Repairs $ 715,000 $ 45,000 $ 71,500 $ 831,500

Design Contingency $ - $ 25,000 $ - $ 25,000

Sub-Total Testing & Repairs $ 5,171,000 $ 275,000 $ 517,100 $ 5,963,100

Gym Replacement $ 6,492,761 $ 1,207,530 $ 770,029 $ 8,470,320

Total Gym Replacement, Testing & Repairs $ 11,663,761 $ 1,482,530 $ 1,287,129 $ 14,433,420

11/3/2010 16
 Plan A
Description Construction Est. Design/CM Contingency Total Budget

Replace Heating, Ventilation & Air Conditioning $ 2,641,800 $ 220,332 $ 437,868 $ 3,300,000

Replace Fire Alarm $ 265,000 $ 17,000 $ 26,500 $ 308,500

Restroom ADA Requirement Upgrade $ 200,000 $ 15,800 $ 20,000 $ 235,800

Add Sprinkler System $ 838,000 $ 40,700 $ 83,800 $ 962,500

OWPR' Category 2 items-Exterior-33 items $ 24,000 $ - $ 2,400 $ 26,400

Borings-four (4) as suggested in ATS' report $ 6,630 $ - $ 660 $ 7,290

ATS Math Classroom M-6 Resistivity Imaging /GPR $ 3,500 $ - $ 350 $ 3,850

Subtotal Additional Improvements $ 3,978,930 $ 293,832 $ 571,578 $ 4,844,340

Total Repair, Testing, Gym $ 15,642,691 $ 1,776,362 $ 1,858,707 $ 19,277,760

11/3/2010 17
 Additional Items Plan A
Not Included in School Board Approved List

Description Construction Est. Design/CM Contingency Total Budget

Replace Vinyl Asbestos Floor Tile $ 256,000 $ 25,600 $ 25,600 $ 307,200

Replace Carpet $ 91,000 $ 9,100 $ 9,100 $ 109,200

Paint Interior Walls $ 418,000 $ 41,800 $ 41,800 $ 501,600

Replace Ceiling Grid and Tiles $ 418,000 $ 41,800 $ 41,800 $ 501,600

Replace Auditorium Seating $ 210,000 $ 21,000 $ 21,000 $ 252,000

Replace Furniture and Upgrade Technology $ 1,500,000 $ 150,000 $ 150,000 $ 1,800,000

Subtotal of Additional Interior
Improvements $ 2,893,000 $ 289,300 $ 289,300 $ 3,471,600

Grand Total $ 18,535,691 $ 2,065,662 $ 2,148,007 $ 22,749,360

11/3/2010 18
 Summary Plan A
 Total Plan A $22,749,360
 Building Official $3,539,540
 Less items in Plan A:

• HVAC Cost -$3,300,000

• Resistivity Testing -$3,850
• Soil Borings -$7,290
 Subtotal -$3,311,140

 Sum of Prior Estimates - $22,977,760

 Plus cost of items not estimated yet?

11/3/2010 19
 Plan B
 Full Renovation of BHS to recapitalize building
 Resolve some code issues since work will include current code
 Address safety concerns
 Change design where feasible to address educational program
needs

 Cost for 1216 students - $42,750,000 to $47,000,000

 Add classrooms to increase capacity up to 1600 students-

• 20 classrooms at 1200 sq ft = 24,000 sq. ft
• 24,000 sq. ft x $180 plus 33% = $5,745,600

 Total for 1600 capacity = $48,495,600 to $52,745,600

11/3/2010 20
 Plan C
 Build new HS on land at Price’s Fork
 Estimated Cost 1200 students 240,000 sq. ft. =

$57,456,000
 Estimated Cost 1600 students 270,000 sq. ft =

$64,638,000

Formula = Total Sq. Ft. x $180/ sq. ft. x 1.33%

additional costs

11/3/2010 21
 Update Blacksburg High School
November 2, 2010

11/3/2010 22