At this year’s national Construction Management Association of America’s national conference and awards show in Washington DC, OAC Services and the Tahoma School District won the 2017 Project Achievement Award for an education project greater than $50 million for Tahoma High School & Regional Learning Center.
On hand to accept the award from OAC were Shawn Mahoney, Managing Principal, and Chris Heger, Associate. In choosing Tahoma High School, the award committee cited the enormous size and scope of the school (when it was completed, it was the largest high school in the State of Washington), the sustainable methods utilized to improve learning and the campus, and the amazing construction management effort on OAC’s part.
When the construction management firm was hired, Tahoma High School was behind schedule and facing several severe budget issues. OAC facilitated the approval process using a General Contractor/Construction Management delivery method (the school would go on to be the first public project in the state to use the GC/CM | EC/CM | MC/CM delivery) and immediately implemented an impact analysis to assess the project, facilitated value engineering and collaboration sessions, and turned the project around. As buyout was completed, the project realized $10 million in savings – this was returned to the district and reallocated to their funds, allowing for an Elementary School modernization project to be converted to a whole new replacement school.
Through OAC’s efforts, Tahoma High School was also completed eight weeks ahead of schedule.
“This remarkable project was a showcase of how OAC works,” Shawn Mahoney related. “Few construction management teams could have taken a massive, complex high school campus project that was in serious budget and schedule jeopardy, picked it up mid-stream, and instituted significant changes… this project went from a potential serious problem for the district to a major win – one they could use to show voters how well they manage public votes. We at OAC could not be prouder of this incredible partnership with the Tahoma School District.”
Tahoma High School and Regional Learning Center is a 320,000-square-foot, advanced education facility capable of serving 2,400 students. The school features a three-story classroom wing, a major athletic complex, an advanced performing arts center, and career and technical education training classrooms on a site with protected wetlands. The school was completed in June 2017 – plenty of time for students to start attending in the fall.