The Turlock Unified School District Board of Trustees were willing—but not all too delighted—to approve another increase to the budget for the girls gymnasium modernization project at Turlock High School, which cannot seem to catch a break from dry rot discoveries, delayed orders and stormy weather.

“Obviously I’m a little discouraged with the cost, but I think it’s going to be something the community and this District is going to be proud of,” said Board President Frank Lima. “And we understand—it’s a 100-year-old building.”

The Board approved an $114,500 increase to the Guaranteed Maximum Price, as well as an extended contract completion date to July 31. This increase is based on ACME Construction’s proposed overhead expenses during the period from March 1 to July 31 at a cost of $22,900 per month. The new GMP will be $9,007,719.

This is not the first time that administration has gone before the Board to ask for an increase in GMP or contract extension. In September, the Board approved a $150,000 increase for a total GMP of $8,893.219 and an extended contract until March 1.

“We realize of course that this is the second time we’ve come back to the Board and asked for an extension, but this has been a very unique experience for all involved,” said Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Mike Trainor. “It’s 100 years old and we’ve learned an awful lot going through this.”

Trainor said that this latest request is due to unforeseen variables including delays with custom built windows, dry rot discovery and weather—the latter of which frustrated Trustee Bob Weaver.

“I understand the delay from finding more dry rot, the delay for the windows coming in, but don’t tell me that the weather was unexpected,” said Weaver. “They’ve been talking about an El Nio year since last summer.”

The Turlock High School modernization project was originally approved by the Board in 2008, and the Board voted ACME Construction as the Lease/Leaseback firm for the projects the same year.

When TUSD first embarked on this modernization project, the original GMP was $7,610,769 and the contract completion date was October 2015. With this newest increase, the contract has increased by $1,282,450 and 152 days.

Trainor said that it is the District’s goal to have the project completed before the beginning of the next school year.