Friday, December 4, 2009
By Eric Zheng and Hannah Rhodes
Staff Writers
The master plan to renovate Mira Costa’s campus through Measure BB was approved by the Manhattan Beach Unified School District Board of Trustees on Nov. 18.
The approval comes over a year after Manhattan Beach voters passed the measure, which allocates over $67.4 million to Costa.
Funds from BB will be used to create a new math and science building, build a new parking lot on Meadows Avenue, add a new quad, and to renovate the cafeteria.
“I’m happy with Measure BB being passed, because it will allow us to finish updating many of the things that have to be done on campus,” Vice Principal Jaime Mancilla said.
By this time next year, construction will be under way on the new facilities. According to the timeline, the project should be completed in about 46 months, including 36 months of construction.
“I am excited about Measure BB and the benefits it will bring to the campus,” Assistant Superintendent Steve Romines said.
The board’s approval came after intensive review of the plans by the Bond Oversight Committee, which was formed to manage finances and create a sustainable design of the campus.
According to the board, it was necessary to create such a committee in 2000 after the failure of Measure M, which allocated $26 million to construct a performing arts center at Costa. However, the measure was abandoned due to a shortage of funds.
“With Measure M, the costs exceeded our estimates, the staff didn’t manage individual costs and the previous architect did not build to our needs,” Romines said. “According to the budget, we expect expenditures of $45 million, but we have $54 million in available funds. We have about $9 million extra in case anything unexpected occurs.”
Though the BB plan has been approved, the construction process will not begin for some time. There will be an additional 12 months of planning and regulatory work concerning construction, during which the district will need to obtain a construction contract.
An aspect of the process that has yet to be decided is whether it would be beneficial to award one contract or to create many contracts with several companies. Currently, there have been no negotiations or talks concerning a deal for the contract.
If everything goes according to plan, the project should be completed in 2013. However, because of construction, portable classrooms may be used during the construction process. The newly renovated buildings will have modern technology, and the campus will have a completely new design.
“As a student, I think BB is a great way to modernize and improve Costa. Looking at the aerial outline, I am very impressed and excited for such a change. I can’t wait for construction to start and the project to finally be completed,” sophomore Austin Houska said.
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