McCarthy NM, a division of McCarthy Building Companies (http://www.mccarthy.com/), recently completed the exterior and steel structures of construction on two K-8 school projects for Santa Fe Public Schools.
When completed, the $9 million Gonzales Community School, which serves more than 600 K-8th grade students, will include a two-story school building with 50,000 square feet of classrooms, labs, a new cafeteria and kitchen, a new gymnasium, an enclosed walkway to the library and a new parent drop-off area. The Gonzales project also includes parking lot lights powered by solar panels, and the district is planning to use this as a teaching tool about solar systems.
The $12 million El Dorado Community School, which serves more than 500 K-8th grade students, will include a two-story school with 80,000 square feet of classrooms, labs, a new cafeteria and kitchen, a new gymnasium, a new library addition and a new administrative office/school entry.
Both projects are being built using a Construction Manager at Risk (CM at Risk) method of delivery. With this model, builders are more hands-on throughout the entire project and share in the responsibility (or “risk”) for the success of a project.
“The private sector has been using CM at Risk since the 1970s with great success,” said Rob Langhoff, senior vice president of McCarthy Building Companies. “Only within the past decade has the public sector, including school districts, begun to embrace the method. The outcome has been a better model for delivery of not only the desired level of quality, but also the best final price.”
Both projects are under construction while students remain on the existing campuses. The schools are utilizing portables this year and will be moved into their new permanent classrooms after testing is complete in late spring.
“Returning optimal value to the community while maintaining a quality learning environment and, above all, keeping our students safe in the midst of a construction project is our team priority,” said David Crosby, construction project manager for Santa Fe Public Schools. “McCarthy’s comprehensive experience with ambitious and realistic construction schedules on occupied school campuses has made a big difference to us and ensured that our students remain safe in a positive learning environment while we build their new school.”
McCarthy began construction on both Gonzales Community School and El Dorado Community School in April 2011. The projects are scheduled for completion in time for the start of school in August 2012. Wood Metal Concrete is the architect on the projects.
About McCarthy NM
McCarthy NM, a division of McCarthy Building Companies Inc., is the nation’s 10th largest domestic general contractor (Engineering News-Record, May 2011). The firm has been building in the education market for more than 50 years. Committed to the construction of high-performance buildings, the company has managed construction or built hundreds of schools in the Southwest as well as 200 higher-education projects on more than 50 college campuses. McCarthy NM is based in Albuquerque. McCarthy also has offices in Tempe, Ariz.; Newport Beach, San Diego, Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif.; Las Vegas; Dallas and Houston; St. Louis and Atlanta. McCarthy is 100 percent employee-owned. More information about the company is available at http://www.mccarthynm.com/.
