ABSS held four community forums on Monday, October 21 at Impact Alamance to solicit feedback for the new draft of the Southern High School conceptual drawing. Pinnacle Design presented key features of the design that proposes a newly constructed single-story building that includes additional classrooms, science labs/classrooms, offices, cafeteria space, and parking. This design also increases security and updates walkways to be ADA accessible. Pinnacle Design also led the facilitated discussion and will incorporate recommendations into the next draft.

At the September 23, 2019 Board of Education meeting, Pinnacle Design presented the Board of Education with an updated conceptual drawing for Southern High School that proposes a newly constructed single-story building that will include two additional classroom wings and administrative offices. This new design will also rework existing parking lots and drop off zones and allow for summer construction. Other improvements include: repurposing the existing administrative buildings to student services; replacing the vocational instruction building to another location; adding parking spaces and cafeteria space; and updating walkways to be ADA accessible. Pinnacle will be providing additional details to the Board of Education, and ABSS staff will be scheduling stakeholder meetings.

An initial evaluation of the campus has been conducted, and ABSS has been provided with additional recommendations for the design process.

The Board of Education voted to choose “Construction Manager at Risk” (CMAR) as the construction method for the New High School and Southern High School. An RFP for CMAR services was issued by ABSS on July 25th and responses are due back by noon August 12th. No decisions have been made regarding construction manager options for ABSS’ other bond projects.

The ABSS architect/designer selection process began last November when ABSS posted the RFQ (Request for Quotes) and scheduled school visits for early December. By the January 7, 2019 deadline, ABSS received 24 architect/designers submissions for renovation projects and 13 submissions for the new high school. The selection process also included two rounds of interviews with an internal committee and a stakeholder committee.

At the June 18, 2019 ABSS Board of Education Meeting, staff recommended Pinnacle Architecture from Matthews, NC do the renovations and additions for Southern Alamance High School, Eastern Alamance High School, and Western Alamance High School.

Pinnacle Architecture will provide the following services: sealed architectural, structural, M.E.P. and FP plans, sealed civil and landscape design, owner assistance with bidding, owner/contractor assistance with permits, and project observation during construction. The estimated design costs are as follows: Southern Alamance High School for $1,440,000, Western Alamance High School for $840,000, and Eastern Alamance High School for $760,000.

The ABSS Board of Education approved all staff recommendations for architect/designers for school bond projects.

Alamance-Burlington School System staff have reviewed architects for bond projects and will provide the School Board of Education with recommendations to be approved in early June.

At the May 14, 2019 meeting, the Board of Education was presented with construction delivery methods. The Board voted to use the Construction Manager-at-Risk (CMAR) delivery method for Southern High School bond projects. (Please see FAQ page for CMAR information). No RFP has been released at this time to hire a construction manager.