Field upgrades to cost 3 times more

BURBANK — School board members approved a nearly $160,000 design contract Thursday for field improvements at David Starr Jordan Middle School — an increase of more than three times the original amount.

The original contract for services on the joint-use field improvement project was settled at $46,200 in mid-April with the architectural firm Adolph Ziemba AIA & Associates Inc. Modifications to the scope of work, including new parking lot improvements that would add 70 off-street public parking spaces, resulted in the cost increase, according to a district report.

The new contract amount is $158,000 for the design of the almost $2-million project between the school district and the city. Money the district pays will be reimbursed by the city through Youth Endowment Services funds, Supt. Gregory Bowman said.

Extra parking near the field is expected to relieve parking congestion on surrounding streets, Traffic Engineer Ken Johnson said.

In July, City Council members rejected a request from the school’s neighbors to make the streets surrounding Jordan available to only permit owners in an attempt to dissuade users of the nearby field from taking up street parking.

The parking lot is to be built on the North Shelton Street side of the school.

The new contract includes the design of the field, a new parking lot, drainage system, bathroom, security fencing and landscaping of the area, Bowman said.

Construction of the field is pending approval of the designs from the California Division of the State Architect, he said, but no work will begin on the field itself until improvements on John Burroughs High School and Burbank High School fields are completed.

Staff and students at the school welcom the project, Jordan Middle School Principal Sharon Cuseo said.

“It needs an upgrade,” Cuseo said. “It has almost year-round use, and so the fields really don’t get a chance to get that much attention. As soon as they get grained, somebody is on them.”

Other components of the project that do not directly affect the field’s use should begin after the plans are approved and a bid is accepted for contractor services, he said.

Although no timeline has been set for the project, officials hope the parking lot will be finished by late spring, Bowman said.

 RACHEL KANE covers education. She may be reached at (818) 637-3205 or by e-mail at rachel.kane@latimes.com.