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PROVO — Utah’s booming economy has lead to construction woes on a list of small projects in the Provo School District, district officials say.
Construction work moves forward on the replacement building for Provo High School. However, growth is becoming a challenge at other schools in Provo due to a lack of qualified contractors willing to submit bids on maintenance projects.
“We are talking about little, little projects inside the buildings,” explained Caleb Price of the Provo School District. “Things like changing carpets in classrooms, new seating in auditoriums, maintaining sprinkler heads for the fire suppression system.”
The district is competing for workers with several major construction projects in Provo — a new district courthouse scheduled for completion in 2018, the renovation and expansion of Utah Valley Hospital, two new hotels, plus a booming home construction market throughout Utah County.
“We are stressing, how are we going to accomplish the demand on our shoulders now?” said Ryan Wood, who is a subcontractor.
Subcontractors like Wood are not surprised few bidders are interested in smaller projects. Wood said finding and keeping capable and qualified workers is very difficult right now.
“I have got plenty of builders calling me, but I don’t have the workforce to keep up with the demand,” he said.
District officials say the remodel or maintenance projects that don’t have qualified bids are meant to lengthen the life of the buildings but aren't critical to student safety.
“When we don't get bids, we look at our staff and our maintenance department and find the things that we can do ourselves. We can’t do everything. We wait until we can re-bid when the climate is better and the bids come in,” Price explained.
Even though some construction projects are on hold for the time being, Price said construction of Provo High School is on schedule and the school will open in time for the beginning of the new school year next fall.
