NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The School Building Committee came to a compromise on a sign for the entrance to the new Greylock School.

 

There was a negative reaction to the first design, what committee member Richard Alcombright described as a pipe organ in July. 

 

Jesse Saylor of designer TSKP Studios proffered three new options on Tuesday night: a post-and-beam version, a straightforward rectangular version with the building's vertical siding and a modification of the original proposal. All three had some version of a ridgeline to reflect the mountains. 

 

"We took a look at it and we thought, well, this seems to have some merit," he said of the original design. "Perhaps some of the colors that we had presented at the last version were throwing it off. So we made it a little more friendly looking."

 

The first sign still had the separate 4-by-4-inch posts rising in the middle, but with a graphic with trees and a mountain that the committee reacted positively to. 

 

They still didn't like the posts. 

 

"I work with children all day, every day, and this is a very young school age. I'm thinking about, how the kids are going to interact with that," said committee member Connie Tatro. "I know we're not saying they should, but they climb on everything. ... 

 

"I know I would want to walk on the first one. I know I want to do that. I would want to try the steps and go up and down."

 

Fellow member Benjamin Lamb agreed, adding both the first and second options "had a lot to grab onto."

 

"Have a lot of opportunities to stick hands between things, to tuck garbage between things, right?" he said. "I see every single one of those crevices having a water bottle shoved into it at some point, and it just becomes a management nightmare."

 

Alcombright, again, said it would be great if they were building "Greylock Unitarian Church."

 

No one liked option two and three was boring, but seemed safer (though Paul Moriarty thought it looked a little like a diving board).

 

"Number 3 looks like it'd be the best, taking the the font and the signage on the first one and putting it onto the third one," said member Lisa Blackmer. 

 

The committee agreed but postponed a vote until an illustration can be provided. They did approve signage on the building — white letters above the crossbeam on the portico. Alcombright was the only no vote over concerns it would block the views of the mountains. 

 

Timothy Alix of owner's project manager Collier's International gave the rundown on the prequalification process. He had worked with a subcommittee to approve companies ahead of the bidding. 

 

"All in all, there were a couple areas where we were a little bit light, and we were hoping to get more, but at least the firms that we did get are quality firms," Alix said. "But it's a long process. It's very lengthy just because of the advertising, and then the giving the firms time to get their submissions in, and then, honestly, just a lot of time reviewing these, but I think we ended up with with a good list."

 

The goal is to get bids out by Oct. 15 and award contracts by the end of the year. However, that could be pushed out a little dependent on permitting. The state Department of Environmental Resources is expected to OK the No. 2 well, which will move the project to the Conservation Commission sometime in October. It's expected to go before the Planning Board in early November. 

 

"The good news is, with construction, we're targeting a move in, of this, completion in the summer of 2027," he said. "We have a little bit of play here We have enough time in our construction duration to compensate for any minor changes in our in our bid dates early on."

 

The project has received hundred or submissions for prequalification in the nearly dozen categories, though some subcontracting areas were light so an attempt was made to get more bidder interest. As expected, there were no bids for the elevator so Alix said this will be assigned to the general contractor.

 

He went through a number of the categories, saying he has worked with many of those who submitted for prequalification and "was happy to see the number of firms that submitted on this project."

 

Four general contractors were prequalified: Brait Builders Corp. of Marshfield, Fontaine Bros. Inc. of Springfield and Worcester, J&J Contractors Inc. of Billerica, and Consigli Construction with offices in Boston, Hartford, Conn., and Albany, N.Y. All of the contractors have extensive experience in building schools. 

 

Consigli is currently constructing the Williamstown's new fire station and is building the Williams College Museum of Art; it's done other work at Williams and built the Berkshire Innovation Center in Pittsfield.

 

Alix said he has worked with Brait and Fontaine and had good experiences with both. He hasn't worked with J&J but said they come with a good reputation and that Collier's has worked with Consigli though he hasn't personally. 

 

"We're not saying that we're going to get four bids, but I'm hoping that all four of them do submit bids on the project," he said. "But these four are the maximum number that you would have, as far as bidders for general construction."

 

Mayor Jennifer Macksey said she was troubled that there were only four.

 

"I just want to remind everyone, Tim said it but I want to say in my own voice, just because these people prequalified, doesn't mean we're going to get a bid from them," she said. "So, I personally am a little concerned that that for GCS may melt to two, but we will see how that goes."