GOSHEN — The committee in charge of selecting a design-build team to remodel and renovate two Goshen schools has narrowed the pool of applicants from seven to three. At a meeting Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 22, the technical review committee chose The Hagerman Group of Fort Wayne, Ancon Construction of Goshen, and Weigand Construction of Fort Wayne. The seven members of the committee spent about 30 minutes individually scoring each team in several areas including expertise, ability to meet schedules, experience working in a design-build mode,l and their ability to maintain excellent and energy-efficient learning environments.
The teams were ranked out of 100 possible points. The Hagerman Group received 95 points and Ancon Construction received 89.43 points, easily putting them in first and second place. Complicating the third and final decision was the close scores of Performance Services and Weigand Construction, which received 86.57 points and 86.29 points respectively. Despite its slight point disadvantage, five out of seven committee members ranked Weigand higher in their individual scoring. After some discussion, the committee unanimously approved a motion to select Weigand over Performance Services. “I think all seven were really qualified, so that’s what made it so difficult,” said Diane Woodworth, Goshen Community Schools superintendent and committee member.
The next step is for the committee is to issue a request for proposal to each of the three teams. The team that’s ultimately chosen will remodel and renovate Goshen High School and Goshen Middle School. The $17 million project was approved in November’s referendum election. “Now they’re competing for the project,” Woodworth said.
The committee’s ranking of each design team out of 100 possible points:
• The Hagerman Group (Fort Wayne): 95
• Ancon Construction (Goshen): 89.43
• Performance Services (Indianapolis): 86.57
• Weigand Construction (Fort Wayne): 86.29
• Larson-Danielson (La Porte): 75.14
• The Korte Company (St. Louis) and Majority Builders (South Bend): 74.57
• Wight Construction (Chicago): 69.29
Source: Duis, Sarah. “Goshen Schools building project committee narrows design-build teams to 3.” Elkhart Truth.com. Truth Publishing Company, 22 Jan. 2014. Web. 24 Jan. 2014.