Borough Seeks Architects for $81M High School Renovation

The Naugatuck High School Building Committee is now officially accepting applications from architectural firms interested in designing the $81 million high school renovation plan.

School Business Manager Wayne McAllister told the committee during its first meeting at Town Hall on Tuesday that a Request for Qualifications has been posted in local newspapers, giving prospective applicants until Nov. 30 to submit all of their paperwork.

According to a copy obtained by Patch, the architectural firm has to have completed at least two Connecticut high school facility projects over the past 10 years and has to have experience in renovating one fully-occupied high school in accordance with a phased construction schedule.

(To see the fully copy of the RFQ, see the PDF file attached to this article).

 McAllister estimated the borough would get between eight and 10 firms applying for the three-year renovation job. After all the applications are in, the committee will go through them and pick out for finalists, explained Chairman Robert Neth, also a Naugatuck burgess.

Then, a separate three-person sub committee — made up of Neth, McAllister and committee member Ray Lennon — will interview the finalists on Dec. 7. By Dec. 14, the committee will present its recommendation to the Board of Mayor and Burgesses, which will decide whether or not to hire the finalist, Neth said.

After the selected architect creates its plane, the next step will be submitting it to the state Board of Education. The state will be responsible for making sure the plan is within code compliance, meets ADA requirements is in line with health and safety regulations, McAllister said.

Neth asked McAllister whether it would be possible to have a plan submitted to the state before the Chrismas holiday, however McAllister said that would depend on the firm hired.

According to Principal Jan Saam, the expected commencement period for the school renovation is Sept. 2012.