Final stadium costs could reach about $10 million

There is approximately $1 million left in the $8.4 million construction contract school trustees awarded to Melloul Blamey last year. The state Office of School Facilities issued an occupancy permit for the stadium shortly before a football jamboree in August. The new Gaffney High School football stadium could cost $10 million once all bills are received by the school district.

As of July 31, district figures show Greenville contractor Melloul Blamey has been paid $7,475,183 to build an 8,250-seat stadium next to Gaffney High. This is in addition to architect and engineering fees, stadium lights, furniture and digital electronic scoreboards done as a special project by the Gaffney High football booster club.

The district spent $680,148 on architect and engineering fees to develop the stadium project. These costs included architectural drawings along with state-required soil tests and structural tests on concrete used in the stadium's foundation.

There is approximately $1 million left in the $8.4 million construction contract school trustees awarded to Melloul Blamey last year. The state Office of School Facilities issued an occupancy permit for the stadium shortly before a football jamboree in August.

"There are still some things left in the construction contract that we have not seen yet," finance director Ben Childs said. "Bills from contractors typically run 15 days to a month behind schedule. We have retainage fees that will be released at the end of the contract when the project is closed out."

Southern Management did an inspection Sept. 10 to develop a list of punch list items for contractor Melloul Construction. The contractor will spend the next several weeks correcting problems at the stadium.

For example, Cherokee County School Superintendent Dr. Bill James said a drainage problem that closed several restrooms on game nights was traced to rags which had gotten stuck in the sewer line. Those rags have been removed. The stadium was designed by the Spartanburg architectural firm McMillan Smith, which also designed the Dorman High and Wofford College football stadiums.

The Gaffney High stadium project included a team meeting building, halftime buildings, a 4-story press box, tunnel, concession stands and restrooms.

The construction contract did not include any work on the playing surface. The game field was installed several years ago so it could be available for Gaffney High football practice sessions.

The district did spend $300,000 for stadium lights and furniture in areas such as the press box and team meeting room. These were purchased through a $2.2 million furniture and equipment budget set aside for school construction projects in the district's recently completed $35 million building program.

The Gaffney High Football Booster Club worked on its own to secure funding from sponsors for a $452,000 project that installed two digital electronic scoreboards at each end of the stadium. One scoreboard has an "instant replay" screen.

In March, school trustees added a 450-space overflow parking lot so the school campus would have 2,000 spaces available for stadium parking. This was part of a $1.3 million contract Sossamon Construction received for a Gaffney High track project.

The district saw additional costs with the overflow parking lot. These included $18,000 to meet state requirements for the parking area to be separated by a fence and a retention pond.

The overflow parking and track project were not part of the stadium package originally approved by the school board. The district was able to use a portion of $1.6 million in uncommitted funds from savings in other projects, such as the Gaffney High ninth grade addition.