Paige Effinger
Staff Writer
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After an explosion in James H. Richmond Residential College last summer, the construction process for the building draws near as the bidding selection begins.

In the Board of Regents meeting held Aug. 31, the board members discussed the renovations and reconstruction of James H. Richmond residential college.

The Buildings and Grounds committee, co-chaired by Regent Sharon Green and Regent Phil Schooley, presented the items to the board. The presentation was given by Jason Youngblood, associate director for facilities design and construction, and Kevin Jones, interim chief facilities officer.

Richmond residential college is currently a shell of a building due to the explosion. The incident also damaged Clark’s roof, which needs repairs.

Jason Youngblood said it was mostly the southeast corner of Richmond that was destroyed during the explosion.

“The other wing had some minor damages,” Youngblood said. “The whole building will have some renovations, but essentially we consider the south half of the building as damaged.”

Selective demolition has taken place at Richmond for the last couple of months, and the bidding process for the project will begin later this week. During the selective demo, Youngblood said they also tested the existing systems in the building, such as plumbing, electrical systems, etc.

The bidding selection for the project will be a “best value bid process” which is a more evaluative method than Murray State has exercised in the past.

“We evaluate the contractor themselves, we check references and it’s more like an interview-type process,” he said. “We want to make sure they are assembling a good team and meet the schedule that we are laying out.”

Youngblood said they are using a points system based on experience, references, contractors, and price. Therefore, the contractor with the lowest price may not necessarily get the project.

Youngblood said in the past the University has used a “lump sum low bid” which meant the team with the lowest bid would receive the project.

Youngblood said they have not always gotten the best quality or best value, and wanted to change that.

The bid process is not public at this time, but will be by the end of the week.

At a future date, a committee will be formed to review the bids. Youngblood said the higher administration will choose the committee members.

The current open date for Richmond is August 2019, so students will be able to move in for the fall semester.

“We are going to try to stick to that date as best as we can,” Youngblood said. “It could be subject to change. If we have three or four builders and none of them can say they meet that date up front, we may have to come up with some alternatives.”

Most of the building will look similar to how it was before the explosion with a few exceptions. The building will receive upgrades such as a larger lobby area, a glass wall in the north meeting room and a larger second-floor lobby.

These enhancements were selected by the Board of Regents and the housing office. “The only other updates we’ll do are some mechanical updates, LED lighting, HVC updates, new equipment,” Youngblood said. “The lobby will be getting some new furniture, but the bedrooms will pretty much be the same as they were.”

According to the special Board of Regents meeting held May 1, 2018, the total cost of the project will be $12.5 million. The rebuilding of Richmond will be mostly paid for by insurance; as such, Murray State will only be paying for the enhancements that were not there pre-explosion, totaling about $2 million.

The roof of Lee Clark residential college sustained a great deal of damage in the explosion. Debris hit the roof which dented and punctured it. Youngblood said there was enough damage to the roof that insurance will pay for the renovation.

This is one of the first items that will receive repairs, and he said that the extent of the damage to Clark college’s roof was unknown until recently.

“We didn’t really know it was that bad,” he said. “That roof is very difficult to get on, and we ended up using drones to examine the roof.”

The renovations to Clark are expected to be completed before students leave for winter break on Dec. 8.