RR school board hires architectural firm for RRHS upgrades

RIO RANCHO — Almost 30 years after Rio Rancho High School opened its doors, the school is in need of major upgrades.

The projects are estimated to cost millions more than the original price tag of the facility, RRPS Superintendent Sue Cleveland said Monday during a school board meeting.

RRHS, one of Rio Rancho Public Schools’ two comprehensive high schools, cost $35 million in 1997, when the school was founded, but needed improvements could cost close to $50 million, according to Cleveland.

“It just goes to show the cost of everything has gone up, but it is something the district really needs to do,” Cleveland said.

Her comments came ahead of the board unanimously awarding a contract to Albuquerque-based firm McClain + Yu Architecture & Design project following a competitive bidding process with other firms that wanted to work on the project. The firm will be responsible for designing all facility upgrades.

The projects, part of a five-year master plan, marks the first large-scale, campus-wide HVAC upgrade for RRHS, wrote school district spokesperson Wyndham Kemsley in an email. School officials say the project is needed now because the current HVAC systems are at the end of their lifespan, Kemsley wrote.

During Monday’s meeting, Michael Madrid, director of purchasing and chief procurement officer for the school district, told the board about the the proposed RRHS upgrades, which include:

• New roof installation, except in the gym and fine arts building.
• Upgrades and replacement to heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems.
• Electrical and fire alarm upgrades.
• Replacing existing security fencing with a concrete masonry unit wall.
• Constructing a

vestibule pavilion

• to house the Evolv security system.
• Providing a facility addition for fine arts classes.

RRPS officials estimate the design process will take approximately 10 months to complete, Kemsley said. A separate contract will then be awarded to a contractor for the construction work.

During Monday’s meeting, Patrick Martinez, executive director for facilities with RRPS, told the board that school officials will develop a “phasing plan” to implement the upgrades.

“As you can imagine, Rio Rancho High School is pretty full, so there’s not a lot of swing space, and so we’re going to be looking at how we can do that while also maintaining operations and minimal disruption,” Martinez said.

Project items that would minimally disrupt students could be worked on first, he said, “but that will be determined a little bit better once we get the design team underway and really look at what’s needed.”

Board President Amanda Galbraith said that the RRHS renovation project is “something that we’ve been looking at for so many years, so it’s just really good to hear that we’re moving ahead.”