District torn on how to repair Ensign

Danette Goulet

NEWPORT-MESA -- It would cost an estimated $14 million to demolish Ensign

Intermediate School and start from scratch, according to architects’

latest reports.

The latest estimate is almost $6 million more than the price of

refurbishing the decaying school.

“That is a big difference,” said Mark Schultheis, chairman of the

committee investigating the need for repairing the school. “What we’re

interested in doing is trying to understand that difference and see what

it really means.”

Although the committee is still weighing the difference in price, they

hope to find a viable third option.

“Personally, I’m not willing to spend $6 million more for that design,”

said school board member Jim Ferryman, who also is on the facilities

committee.

The impetus behind looking at building a new school was to determine if

it would be more cost-effective than repairing the decaying campus.

“Ensign was one of the sites where they identified so many problems, it

was asked what the cost of building new,” said Supt. Robert Barbot.

With those preliminary numbers in hand, Schultheis said, the committee

must weigh the cost of maintaining a new, more efficient school against

simply repairing the old one.

“I still think there will be an apparently large difference,” Schultheis

said. “But there could be a blended solution. It could be beneficial to

look at pockets of the campus to tear down and build new.”

This solution may not answer all of Ensign’s design prayers, but it may

be the most cost-effective way to go.

“I think you can generalize that to all campus repairs versus

replacement,” Schultheis said. “I’ve had a chance to visit all the

secondary schools. Ensign is overall in the worst shape, but not by

much.”

One major expense of rebuilding Ensign that does not sit well with some

committee members is the $1.5 million it would cost for an interim

campus.

“We’ve got to be sensitive to the community concern of going too far,”

Ferryman said. “I’d rather err on the side of caution.”

The committee has asked PJHM Architects Southwest to review the numbers

for Ensign and to look at the cost of rebuilding other schools, such as

TeWinkle, before they make any decisions, Barbot said.