By BEX Staff for AZBEX
Repair costs for the Tucson Unified School District headquarters have ballooned to more than double the original estimates.
The building is located at 220 W. Sixth St., east of North Main Avenue. Renovations were originally estimated at $3.3M, now they sit at $7.2M.
TUSD purchased the building from the University of Arizona. The building used to be home to Tucson Electric Power. The District stated it was not aware of the amount of money needed to renovate the property.
A Tucson news outlet reported that proposed renovations include HVAC upgrades, floor replacement and ADA accommodation. The ADA accommodation will cost nearly $1.7M. UA did not renovate the building during its tenure as the owner; therefore it did not have to invest in meeting ADA requirements.
Renovations also include a new boardroom that will include overhead projectors, microphones, speakers and space for attendees. The boardroom is expected to cost $728.9K. Cosmetic costs surrounding new paint, flooring and drywall add up to more than $1M.
A TUSD representative said State funding is not an option for the renovations. The State will only provide the district funding for buildings related to students.
After hearing discussions about the renovations and costs in its meeting earlier this month, Superintendent Dr. Gabriel Trujillo suggested holding off on any action and getting new quotes with the goal of keeping costs to within $4M.
TUSD’s Current Building
TUSD was originally supposed to sell its current building, the Morrow Education Center, at 1010 E. 10th St. to Up Campus Properties, LLC for $18.3M. Up Campus then canceled the deal. This led the TUSD Governing Board to agree to sell the building to MDL Development, LLC for $17.5M. This deal was also canceled. TUSD intended to use the funds gained from selling its old building to renovate its new building.
TUSD’s current building is also in dire need of renovations, with an estimated cost of $7.4M to repair it. The elevators alone would need nearly $1M for repairs. The HVAC system repairs would cost $3.3M.