Williamsburg Community School District announces partnership with Miron Construction

WILLIAMSBURG — Williamsburg Community School District has hired Miron Construction, Inc. from Cedar Rapids as construction manager for the District’s two-phase, school facilities investment and improvement project.

Miron Construction, the second-largest educational construction manager in the Midwest, brings a wealth of experience and a proven track record in delivering educational projects as a construction manager at risk, said District Superintendent Chad Garber.

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The Board officially approved the partnership at its regular Board meeting July 10. The search for a construction manager began in May with an invitation to interested construction managers to submit statements of qualification, said Garber.

That invitation yielded 10 candidates who were reviewed by a team that included school board members, Garber, and Emergent Architecture. On their recommendation, the school board awarded the contract to Miron Construction.

Phase one of the project, funded by statewide sales tax dollars, will include an addition for fifth and sixth grades at Mary Welsh Elementary, additional parking and building system updates, Garber said.

The addition of nearly 14,000 square feet will allow the district to repurpose existing space in the three existing wings of the building to provide for small group learning and collaboration that has become crucial to teaching and learning.

Renovations at the Jr./Sr. High School will combine the two existing cafeterias into one, updating and expanding the food preparation and service area and establishing a central commons area that will better use existing space and allow the building to expand the square footage for the music department, Garber said.

Just as at Mary Welsh, while these renovations occur, various building mechanical and safety systems that are aging can be replaced and improved.

Phase two of the project, contingent on voter approval in November, will include expanding career and technical education classrooms in areas like industrial technology and agriculture education, re-purposing the existing industrial technology and agriculture education space and updating classroom space in the center of the building that is generally the oldest in the district.

Mary Welsh Elementary School will see the media center relocated to the center of the building to serve as a learning hub, expansion of space for the music department, installation of LED lighting to improve energy efficiency and additional small group learning space.

As building heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems age, the renovations will allow for the replacement and improvement of those systems.

As the Construction Manager, Miron will work closely with Emergent Architecture through all stages of the projects, starting with design and pre-bond assistance. Miron’s communications team will assist in promoting the bond referendum, supplementing the Donovan Group, the district’s communications partner.

In the design process, Miron align the scope of the project with the budget and plan for project phasing, while using local subcontractors to maximize local involvement.

During construction, Miron will have a project superintendent on-site every day, managing safety, quality and production.

“While the Construction Manager at Risk delivery model is a relatively new option for school construction in Iowa, Miron has over 25 years experience delivering construction projects with this model,” Garber said.

“We are really excited about the chance to build a team that includes design, construction and communication expertise very early on in the project. We think this will help us plan carefully and budget responsibly, lead to a smoother construction process and result in a project that has a lot of short term and long term benefits for teaching and learning and building efficiency and safety,” Garber said.