Woodside High's new theater has a new and higher price Woodside High's new theater has a new and higher price (June 08, 2005)

** Cost overruns offset by interest income, matching funds.

By David Boyce

Almanac Staff Writer

The bill for the recently completed 500-seat performing arts center at Woodside High School will be higher than originally planned -- about $2.6 million higher.

Initially put at $13.8 million, the cost for the 25,000-square-foot theater is expected to top out at about $16.4 million.

In a June 2005 report from the Sequoia Union High School District's Bond Oversight Committee -- a community group charged with monitoring the distribution of $88 million in construction bond funds approved by voters in 2001 -- committee chair Dennis McBride tied the cost overruns to a mistake in architect's fee calculations, higher prices for building materials, a design change and extra insurance costs.

A $2.6 million hit is not chump change for a school district looking at a $1 million deficit in its operating budget for the coming fiscal year, according to the latest estimates. The good news is that it's the district's healthier capital budget that is taking the hit and that some $4 million in interest earned on the bond money will cover the extra expenses, said Mr. McBride.

The report covers the 22 months between July 2003 and April 2005, during which time the Sequoia district spent $79 million on upgrades and new construction on the district's four comprehensive high schools.

Locally, the results of that spending include new track-and-field facilities and modernized classrooms at both Woodside and Menlo-Atherton high schools, and a new gym at M-A.

Bond funds approved by voters in November 2004 will be paying most of the $17 million cost of a 500-seat performing arts center in the works at M-A.

During the period covered by the report, the only other cost overrun -- of $1.2 million -- occurred due to "unforeseen site conditions" in a classroom construction project at Carlmont High School in Belmont, said Mr. McBride.

In responding to the overruns, the Sequoia district has "revamped its budget process to make sure all costs are adequately estimated and budgeted," said Mr. McBride.

The architectural-fees error for the Woodside project added $1.8 million to the cost of the theater, while shortage-driven price increases for cement and steel added $200,000, said Mr. McBride.

A longer-than-expected construction period required another $200,000 for liability insurance, and an additional $300,000 paid for a sophisticated rigging system that allows one person sitting at a computer to manipulate up to seven theatrical backdrops.

Along with the interest earned on $88 million, the district boosted its construction revenues with state matching funds. Woodside's theater project received $1.4 million.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.