BROOKINGS – The Brookings School District paved the path forward for future school construction projects by issuing requests for qualifications following last week’s school board meeting.
The district is inviting plans to be submitted by interested architectural firms for implementing the district’s comprehensive facility plan. It calls for remodeling and renovating existing facilities, expanding some facilities and new construction.
The difference between a request for qualifications and a request for proposals is one of degree: because of the scope of the projects, more vetting is asked for to prove to the district that a firm can accomplish the task to the level of quality desired.
The architect group that is selected will work to see this all through in an ongoing series of prioritized projects that could be done in phases.
Some of the highly prioritized projects the district has in mind are adding classrooms to Mickelson Middle School and improving security there, looking to improve Medary Elementary and Hillcrest Elementary so that they are comparable to Dakota Prairie Elementary in the kind of educational experience they can offer, and the relocation of the bus barn and expansion of the Career and Technical Education building.
On the topic of the bus barn, Brookings School District Superintendent Klint Willert added that the district is searching for about five acres of land to purchase to be the site of a new bus barn facility. He said that’s something the district would like to accomplish in the next couple of months.
The chosen architects would have a hand in fine-tuning the project priorities.
To choose that firm, the district will create a list of firms that submitted a proposal to be evaluated, then interview up to five candidates from which to pick their final choice.
The reason for hiring one firm to handle all those district projects is for the sake of streamlining accountability and oversight.
“I reflect back on how much time and energy and effort was expended by (Brookings School District Business Manager) Brian (Lueders) and myself going through this building (Dakota Prairie) with the architect …. I don’t want to do that with multiple firms. I think one firm that we hold accountable and really focus our energies on would be beneficial to the district in the long term,” Willert said.
In a separate interview, he said, “We are certainly open to other options, but that would be the preferred option right now.”
All interested firms are required to submit eight copies of the request for qualifications and one digital PDF copy on a flash drive. The proposal must be submitted by Wednesday, Nov. 1.
Contact Eric Sandbulte at esandbulte@brookingsregister.com.
