CANCO earns another school CM contract with College CSD

3 years, 5 months ago

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (CANCO) — Four months after being awarded the College Community School District's first-ever contract for construction management of a school building project, Carl A. Nelson & Company's efforts have resulted in an opportunity to lead renovations of an existing school building on the district's rural Cedar Rapids campus.

The College CSD Board of Education, during its regular meeting Oct. 19, 2020, approved a construction management agency contract with CANCO for the renovation of Prairie Creek Intermediate School.

In June, the board chose Carl A. Nelson & Company in a qualifications-based selection process to lead an estimated $48 million project to build a 1,000-student, 180,000-square-foot intermediate school for students in grades five and six. The second part of the approximately $75 million building program included a $19.5 million renovation of the existing Prairie Creek Intermediate School. Prairie Creek presently serves about 800 students in grades five and six.

"We were hoping when we got the first project we could make it a good experience for them," said Chris Smith, CANCO's vice president of operations in the Burlington office and project executive for education construction projects.

Comments from school district officials prior to the Oct. 19 meeting indicated the collaborative process between Carl A. Nelson & Company, the architectural firm OPN and the district on the new school project was going smoothly. Smith said district officials also have recognized the value engineering efforts of the CANCO project team to bring the project within budget.

The new school project remains in pre-construction. The start of work on the Prairie Creek renovation depends on phasing considerations that are to be determined. College CSD serves about 6,000 students in the rural and suburban communities south of Cedar Rapids.

Burlington, Iowa,-based Carl A. Nelson & Company, with offices in Cedar Falls and Washington, Iowa, is a design-build, construction management and general contracting company founded in 1913. The firm's construction management agency experience includes projects for cities, counties and hospitals, as well as school districts all over Iowa. CANCO currently is at work on a 180,000-square-foot, $42 million project to construct a new high school in Sioux Center, Iowa. CANCO recently completed two other K-12 construction management projects: K-12 addition and renovation work for the Danville Community School District, and a high school renovation for the Shenandoah Community School District.