The University of Wyoming Board of Trustees today (Thursday) approved a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) to renovate the Kendall House to be the new home of UW's Haub School and Ruckelshaus Institute of Environment and Natural Resources.
Trustees approved a GMP of $1,114,591 as proposed by Drahota Construction, the project's construction manager-at-risk. The establishment of a GMP ensures the costs of the project will not exceed the agreed-upon price. With approval of the GMP, Drahota will now begin competitively bidding the subcontracts and major material suppliers.
The project is funded with a $764,000 gift from Donald and Bim Kendall, matched by the state for a total of $1.53 million, to purchase, renovate and rename the Hitchcock House at 8th and University streets, one block west of the UW Classroom Building. It was used as a UW child care facility and is now vacant. In addition to the Kendall gift, donations have been received and matched by the Legislature from the Kresge Foundation and Rocky Mountain Power.
In other action Thursday, the trustees approved hiring G.E. Johnson Construction Company of Jackson as construction manager at-risk to assist with the completion of the project design and construction document phases for the Visual Arts Complex.
G.E. Johnson's work will include the preconstruction phase and culminate with a GMP for eventual construction of the building.
The Visual Arts facility will be built on a site southeast of the Centennial Complex. Pending legislative authorization, construction could begin in July 2010.
Also Thursday, the trustees reappointed nine people to a board that oversees the Western Research Institute, located on the UW campus.
Named to the UW Research Corporation Board of Directors were: Bill Gern, UW vice president of research and economic development and the board's chairman; Myron Allen, UW provost and vice president for academic affairs; Ronald Benson of Houston, Texas, a consultant with Haddington Ventures; Ronald Collins, Pavement Technology, Inc., president of Covington, Ga.; and Brent Erickson, Biotechnology Industry Organization executive vice president, Washington, D.C.
Others are Rob Hurless, Gov. Dave Freudenthal's energy and telecommunications adviser; Robert Ettema, UW College of Engineering and Applied Science dean; Richard Willson, an attorney from Palm Harbor, Fla.; and Larry Monroe, Southern Company research program manager of Birmingham, Ala.
UW Research Corporation directors are appointed annually to serve one-year terms.
Posted on Thursday, August 27, 2009