On June 15, 2021, Alamance-Burlington School System celebrated the beginning of construction for the Southern High School by breaking ground. ABSS leaders, elected officials, and community leaders gathered at the groundbreaking ceremony on the property. Southern High School is a major construction project that is scheduled to be completed in November 2022.

• Board of Education presentation 10-13-2020
• Engineers and designers have met with stakeholders to prepare the attached final design for review
  Update 10-13-2020 Southern High School Bond Project Final Design Review

   

• Project in final phase of Design Development (DD)
• Input was received from students, staff, community, athletic directors, central office staff, Board of Education, Child Nutrition as well as designers and CMR
  • Focus points included classroom design, parking, student services areas, administration offices, Career and Technical Education Programs, athletic needs, data layout, security, kitchen design and kitchen equipment
• Traffic Study
  • ABSS has received final traffic analysis and civil drawings showing required site and road improvements for this project
  • Due to the location of the middle school improvements will be required for improvements at both sites
  • ABSS staff is meeting with DOT officials to discuss funding options

Edited: ABSS met with Samet Corporation and Moseley Architects to discuss moving timelines in order to provide a time buffer to give ABSS adequate time to prepare for placement of students.

Moseley Architects presented the ABSS Board of Education with updated conceptual drawings and a new updated traffic pattern visual for Southern High School on March 4, 2020.

Samet representatives were available at the February 3 Board of Commissioners’ meeting to provide background, context, and answer questions. Moseley Architects will share the schematic design phase for the new high school design along with Southern High School's updated design that will be presented to the School Board of Education at the March meeting.

The Construction Manager at Risk contracts (New High School and Southern High) are anticipated to be approved by the ABSS Board of Education at a special meeting this Friday, January 31. If approved, Samet representatives will be available at the February 3 Board of Commissioners’ meeting to provide background, context, and answer any questions the commissioners may have. They will also be included on the agenda for the upcoming Oversight Committee Meeting scheduled for February 27.

The Southern High School and South Mebane Elementary School projects are on-schedule for a September 2020 bond sale when they are expecting to have construction documents in-hand. No delays or price changes have occurred at the present time.

The ABSS School Board agreed to make Samet Corporation the construction manager-at-risk for both the new high school and the renovations at Southern High School. Contract negotiations are in progress with Samet as the Construction Manager-at-Risk for Southern High School renovations as well as the New High School.

The process for hiring a builder depends on the building method used. The Construction Manager-at-Risk model is an authorized contracting method. The Construction Manager-at-Risk is required to deliver the project at a guaranteed maximum price based on the architectural designs.

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 increases security and updates walkways to be ADA accessible. Pinnacle Design will incorporate recommendations from community input discussions 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.