Warren Hills awards contract for expansion Friday, August 04, 2006 • BY LYNN OLANOFF • The Express-Times WASHINGTON TWP. | Construction is scheduled to start next month on a $23.7 million addition and renovation project at Warren Hills Regional High School. The district's school board awarded a contract for the project Thursday. The amount was almost $4 million less than what was originally budgeted. "There's not much going on -- contractors are hungry. So because of that, these are good numbers," said Patrick Seiwell, the project architect. The project had been budgeted at $28.6 million, which included a 5 percent contingency. With the $23.7 million contract and a 5 percent contingency, the new estimate is $24.9 million. The winning bid from Cobra Construction Company, of North Arlington, N.J., was so low that project officials checked with the company to make sure it could do it at the price. "They were comfortable with their numbers," said Kathy Tartaglia, the construction manager. "They've done a lot of schools and they've done a lot of big schools." The company's projects include schools in Hardyston Township and Bogota, N.J., she said. Superintendent Peter Merluzzi said the district would wait until the end of the project to decide what to do with the remaining money in case there are unforeseen costs. The entire project is estimated to take three years. The project and an ongoing expansion and renovation at the district's middle school were approved in a December 2004 referendum. Together, the two projects is slated to cost $36.8 million, about $13 million of which is funded by the state. The high school addition, which will include a new gym and cafeteria, will be built first. Then the current gym and cafeteria will be turned into 13 classrooms and a larger library. The work will increase the high school's student capacity from 1,130 to 1,548. The school had 1,405 students last year. It will be the first major project expansion and renovation project at the 38-year-old high school since 1989. Reporter Lynn Olanoff can be reached at 908-475-8044 or by e-mail at lolanoff@express-times.com. © 2006 The Express-Times. Used with permission.