According to a GMHS Campus Project Update circulated earlier today, this evening the Falls Church School Board will reach another “milestone in the GMHS Campus Project with the selection of Gilbane Construction with Stantec and Quinn Evans Architects as contractors and architects for the new George Mason High School.”

• During this evening’s meeting, the Gilbane team will present an overview of their design.
• The session will be streamed live at www.fccps.org/live beginning at 7:00 p.m.
• The project plan is available on the Campus Project website: www.fccps.org/campusproject.

The winning design is Net-Zero Ready and LEED Gold Certified. Gilbane’s proposal also expresses the potential of the construction being completed sometime around December 2020 and January 2021 – six months earlier than planned.

Before the presentation, the School Board is expected to authorize the Superintendent to enter into a contract with the Gilbane group which the City Council will consider at its meeting on July 23rd.

The comprehensive agreement, the exhibits and a summary of the $108 million contract can be found here. 

A schedule of public meetings and the entire project update can be found here.

Falls Church FACTS folks found that according to the contract 12.4 TERMINATION BY OWNER FOR CONVENIENCE. If Owner terminates this Agreement before July 1, 2019, other than as set forth in § 12.1.2, Owner shall pay Private Entity for all Work executed plus reasonable demobilization costs, together with Private Entity’s Fee on work completed, but no overhead, profit, or fee on work not performed. If the Owner terminates this Agreement, other than as set forth in § 12.1.2, and on or after July 1, 2019, Owner shall pay Private Entity for all Work executed and for all reasonable costs in cancelling approved subcontracts and work orders, and reasonable demobilization costs, together with Private Entity’s Fee thereon, but no overhead, profit or Fee on Work not performed.

The main questions/concerns heard at this point from members of the community are:

• Will the execution of this contract move the project along so that it will require the issuance of another tranche of the construction loans before a developer for the land has been found contrary to promises made?
• What are the financial risks to the taxpayer if a don’t find a purchaser for the land on top of the $6.5 million we would be obligated for thus far?
• Parking — Community members continue to be concerned about the number of spots available for students and parents which makes little sense since this is for a bigger school with more students and community members using the building.

Perhaps city officials or other principals can comment on those community concerns.