The School Building Committee, set up more than eight years ago to oversee the renovation and expansion of the Bromfield School, was formally dissolved at Monday night’s school board meeting. While the bulk of the building project was completed several years ago, a few minor issues had dragged on, with school administrators wrangling with the contractors over items such as the slope of the handicapped ramp on the west side entrance, and the unbalanced heat that caused some rooms to be too hot and some too cold. Eventually, after the items were dealt with and final payments to the contractors settled, the project has ended up in the black to the tune of $52,000, School Superintendent Tom Jefferson said.
“We’re mopping up the final details,” Jefferson told the board. He had nothing but praise for the building committee, saying, “They kept working, even after the ribbon cutting.”
Administrators and the building committee would like to use the remaining $52,000 to add back in some finishing touches to the building that had been cut out of the project along the way to save money. These include some interior painting, work to upgrade the entryway, and other aesthetic improvements that had been foregone, Jefferson said.
Chairwoman Willie Wickman asked him to provide a detailed list of the final work for her board to approve. School board member Will Verbits suggested the board send a thank-you letter to the School Building Committee members, with member Paul Wormser later adding, “The building project is great—the building is not under-utilized, and it’s working better and better.”
