The Pleasant Valley School Board has approved a $3.5 million contract with KCBA Architects for renovations to the high school.

KCBA Architects, in Center Valley and Hatfield, will provide design services for the Pleasant Valley High School Renovation Project. The renovations are expected to cost about $88 million when completed.

Arif Fazil, the president of D’Huy Engineering in Bethlehem, which is the construction manager for the project, told the school board at its district planning meeting on Aug. 15 that the project will include upgrades to the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and fire protection systems to create an entirely integrated and efficient system.

“The main focus that we were looking at is the qualifications of the individual key members and their consultants, including mechanical, electrical and plumbing, which is almost half the cost of this project,” he said.

D’Huy, along with school board directors Diane Serfass, Norm Burger and President Sue Kresge, Superintendent James Konrad, Assistant Superintendent Rae Lyn Howard, business manager Mike Simonetta, and high school administration, served on the Capital Improvement Project committee that interviewed three architecture firms out of six that had expressed interest in the project.

The other two companies that were interviewed were GKO (Godshall Kane O’Rourke) Architects in Ambler and Alloy5 Architecture in Bethlehem.

At the district planning meeting, Burger said, “The three finalists all had very good ideas.”

D’Huy has proposed a reconfiguration of the flow of classrooms, demolition of the old auditorium and turning that area into a designated entrance and new room. They have also proposed adding space to the cafeteria, weight room and team rooms, and creating a plaza behind the school where buses would drop off and pick up students.

With KCBA now onboard, they have been given 12 months to work on the design and do reviews, budgeting, scheduling and value engineering, and get approvals. This will be accomplished through a series of phases.

According to the district’s contract with KCBA, the project encompasses seven phases. The first phases is concept planning, which is 5% of their $3.5 million fee.

The next phase is schematic design, which involves refining the conceptual drawings and related work. This is 10% of their fee. The design development phase is 15% and is where they complete the drawings and finalize the outline specifications.

The fourth is the construction document phase and is 40% of their fee. It involves creating the construction drawings and specifications, preparing the budget, acquiring the necessary approvals, and getting written approval from the school board.

The fifth and sixth phase - contract preparation and bidding - are 3% and 2% of the KCBA’s fee respectively. They have been given two months to put the project out to bid and award it to a contractor, and two months for planning and procurement.

The last phase and 25% of their fee is the construction administration phase. From the time construction begins to completion, the project is expected to take a year and a half.

Dates are yet to be determined, but Fazil said the project should go out to bid in late 2024 with construction beginning in 2025.