Preliminary Shuffle Estimate Hits $7.16M

The latest cost projections for Darien's planned facilities shuffle are considerably higher than the estimates attached to the project last year.

That's according to a draft budget from the panel overseeing the project, known as the Board of Education Central Office/Mather Center Building Committee.

Under the town's shuffle plan — by a party-line vote in September — the Board of Education's offices would be moved from their current home abutting Town Hall the old library at 35 Leroy Ave.

In turn, the would be relocated from its aging venue on Edgerton Street to a revamped Town Hall annex, dubbed the Mather Center. The Edgerton Street facility would then be razed, potentially clearing the way for senior affordable housing at the site.

As of Aug. 11 — the date of the committee's latest draft budget — the total estimated construction cost of the shuffle stood at $7,157,954.

That tally, though still a work in progress, is 59 percent higher than the $4.5 million figure quoted by First Selectman Dave Campbell in Oct. 2010 and 109 percent higher than the $3.43 million construction total from Beinfield Architecture's July 2010 feasibility study.

The Aug. 11 draft puts the cost of the BOE relocation at $2,384,860 and the Mather Center overhaul at $4,773,094, compared to construction estimates of $1,598,801 and $1,833,795 from the 2010 study. 

(The July 2010 and Aug. 11 estimates are similar in scope but not perfectly comparable, as their cost exclusions differ slightly. See the above PDFs for details.)

Among the major differences between the 2010 study and the Aug. 11 draft: the addition of $108,000 in masonry work at the two sites, a $190,000 rise in HVAC costs for the Mather Center, and a $267,000 jump in the price of site work at Town Hall.

Notably, the 2010 figures were prepared by a different construction firm, A. Pappajohn Company, while the current totals are based on estimates from AP Construction.

Norm Guimond, chairman of the shuffle committee, cautioned Tuesday that the project was still at the "very front end of the costing phase."

"There are some major assumptions on cost in that [estimate] that are going to be taken down," Guimond said.

"Our committee is working as hard as it can to get down the numbers," Guimond added.

At Friday's meeting of the shuffle committee, Campbell encouraged members to cut costs and to focus on the essential elements of the project rather than the "nice-to-haves."

According published minutes, committee members identified hundreds of thousands of dollars in possible cuts during the meeting, which have yet to be incorporated into the budget projections. 

They include the elimination of a rain screen, patios, a skylight, and several windows from the Mather Center design as well as the elimination of a new stairwell and skylight planned for 35 Leroy.

Guimond said that it wasn't clear yet whether the final cost could be brought in line with last year's estimates.

But Selectman David Bayne (D), who opposes the shuffle plan, said in a statement that it would be difficult for the committee to do so "without completely rethinking this project."

"It is not uncommon that the original estimates are less than the actual project estimates when the architectural drawings are prepared," said Bayne, but the size of this overrun "raises serious questions about the original estimates and the work of the Phase I Task force chaired by Jayme Stevenson."

Bayne noted that the estimates still exclude items like furniture, kitchen equipment, and fixtures for the Mather Center — as well as the cost of razing the current Edgerton facility.

"It is time to scrap Jayme Stevenson and Dave Campbell's shuffle, and admit that the last two years of focusing exclusively on this ill-conceived plan have been a waste of time," Bayne added. "Unfortunately, there is no backup plan in place, but it is time that we begin the work of looking at a cost effective way to keep Darien's senior center in operation."

Campbell said Tuesday that the current overrun is simply "part of the process" and that the final figure will invariably be lower than the current estimate.

"Every other project in town has had the same thing happen to it," he said, citing the town's new library and high school as examples.

"It could be a little a higher [than 4.5 million], or it could be close ... These are all estimates until you bid it," Campbell added.

Campbell pointed to the example of the Weed Beach overhaul, which he said had come down from a high estimate of nearly $5 million to its current project total of $2.7 million.

But Bayne said the comparison was "apples and oranges," noting that the $4.7 million estimate for Weed Beach had come during the project's bidding phase — rather than the schematic phase — at which point the RTM had already approved the project with a ceiling of $3.6 million.

Selectman Jayme Stevenson (R) said she was "confident we will get to a very comfortable budget" after the committee finishes its work.

"I don't know where exactly the number will come in, but I know the number will come in as economical as it can be to provide the kind of space that we need," she added

"4.5 [million] was a really rough estimate," Stevenson said. "That's the nature of municipal projects and the way they play out."

In light of the overrun, Selectman Callie Sullivan (D) asked Tuesday "why it was wrong to investigate other options" for the senior center alongside the shuffle.

"You don't just go down one path. That is the road to destruction. That is a waste of taxpayers' dollars," Sullivan said. "We've wasted all of this time when we could have been looking for a more affordable option."

In Oct. 2010, Sullivan proposed her own approach to the project: a standalone senior center on the Edgerton site estimated at $3 million.

Moving forward, Sullivan said, "The process needs to be transparent so that taxpayers are entitled to see each and every rendition. ... Let's see what the pie in the sky is, and let's see what's being cut."

On Tuesday, Campbell informed the selectmen that a scheduled Aug. 22 presentation by the shuffle committee would be delayed so the panel could continue its work on the cost projections.

"We know it's very important that before we go public with this presentation, it has to be very well defined in terms of the budget," Stevenson said. "We want to make sure all our ducks are in a row before we go public."

A separate appearance by Guimond and architect Tom Arcari is still on for Wednesday at 10 a.m. at the senior center. The two will discuss the features and schematics of the Mather Center.