Schools Seek Schedule for Air-Conditioning

Los Angeles Unified School District officials and the companies chosen to install air-conditioning in dozens of campuses were to meet today to begin mapping out a construction schedule and figuring out whether a majority of the work can be done by Sept. 1.

A total of 195 schools have been targeted in the first two phases of the air-conditioning program. But exactly when the work will begin is to be hammered out over the next two weeks, along with other business arrangements.

Supt. Ruben Zacarias earlier this week chose two utility consortiums to perform the work, but the district has yet to sign contracts with the companies--Energy Alliance and PG&E; Energy Services/CH2M Hill. Both groups have pledged to install air-conditioning in 285 public schools by March 1999, but now must put their promises in writing.

“It’s a matter of sitting down and putting the puzzle together,” said Energy Alliance’s Rick Ellis. “We will come up with a plan on how to get these [projects] executed.”

Zacarias’ selection of the companies Wednesday ended an eight-month competition among firms vying for the lucrative contract, to be paid for with funds from the $2.4-billion bond measure adopted by voters last year. The winning bidders agreed to work together and cut their price by several million dollars, to $234 million.

Work will begin after the proposal is approved by the Board of Education, which is scheduled to consider the matter Feb. 9, said Energy Alliance Program Manager Michael Dochterman. Construction is expected to last an average of three weeks at each campus.

But the groups have plenty of work ahead before their crews step foot on any campuses. Several issues need to be ironed out, including the question of how to integrate air-conditioning installation with other repairs.