The Columbia Board of Education approved plans to build a new elementary school set to open in Fall 2016. At its meeting last night, the Board announced it would hire ORF Construction out of Bridgeton Missouri to build the new Southwest Elementary School.
Board member Linda Quinley said they would have loved to pick a company that is locally owned, but their budget just didn’t allow for it.
“We would love for it always to be local but our monies don’t allow us to focus on local,” Quinley said. “So we go with lowest and best bid.”
Superintendent Peter Stiepleman said it is the Board’s duty to use taxpayer money wisely and efficiently.
Quinley says ORF’s bid of just over 16 million dollars was the best bid of the eight competing companies, and ORF also had positive references from former employers.
Superintendent Stiepleman said he is excited to have a company selected for the job.
“You have a community southwest of town that is just growing,” said Stiepleman. “It’s almost as if the houses are building themselves, it is growing so quickly. And so it is a community that is in desperate need of an elementary school. And so tonight the board took their step in saying go build it.”
