CANCO earns praise as CMa for new high school project
2 years, 5 months ago
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa — The performance of Carl A. Nelson & Company, and the leadership of its project team are the recipients of high marks from the superintendent of a northwest Iowa school district where the firm recently completed work as construction manager of a $42 million high school building.
Superintendent Gary McEldowney, in testimonial video recorded ahead of a celebratory open house to mark the school's Summer 2021 completion and opening, said the work by CANCO and its project leaders was second in importance to completion of the 180,000 square-foot high school only to passage of a bond issue to fund the project. Construction began in August 2019, and was completed ahead of schedule in June 2021.
"We passed the bond, we hired the right people, and we got it done," McEldowney said in August (see video: High School project earns CANCO top marks).
The project marked the district's first-ever use of construction management agency delivery for a building project, and McEldowney said the experience in value engineering CANCO brought to the project was key to getting the initial design within budget while not giving up any key features or functions of the building.
"They got us down pretty significantly," he said, "and we feel like we have an exceptional, dollar-for-dollar, amazing facility."
In addition to preserving the functionality of the building, the construction management process also resulted in the project being completed below budget, as well as ahead of schedule. McEldowney gave credit to the project team leadership from Carl A. Nelson & Company for that achievement.
"They found a way to lead," he said (see video: Praise for CANCO construction management team on high school project), "they found a way to be strong and to be firm, and to be the best advocate they could be for us as a school and a community. And they did it with a high level of mutual respect from the people that were doing the work. I think that speaks volumes."