Those of a certain age fondly recall the 1978 classic, Animal House, for a number of its memorable scenes and lines.
“Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son.”
“Over? Did you say over? Nothing is over until we decide it is! Was it over when the German’s bombed Pearl Harbor?”
“Mr. Blutarsky… zero point zero.”
Those three are indelibly etched in people’s minds and applicable to many life experiences. But the line that perfectly encapsulates the Lowell High School construction disaster is uttered by Kevin Bacon’s character Chip Dillon, getting ruthlessly paddled by Neidermeyer during a fraternity hazing, and uttering with angst;
“Thank you sir, may I have another!”
The paddles have been repeatedly swinging at the derriere’s of Lowell taxpayers as the price tag skyrocketed through the years to the $381-million figure provided in 2022 and attributed to COVID cost increases.
And yet most of us fully anticipated that Project Manager Skanska, starring in the role of Niedermeyer in this 21st century remake centered on LHS instead of Faber College, had a few more whacks to deliver as we dutifully awaited the next swing.
The wind up started in February of this year, when we began reporting that “flooding issues” in the basement of the 1922 building would lead to delays and more price escalation.
While a dollar figure was never publicly confirmed, we began reporting in May that the overruns could be north of $30-million, bringing the total price tag above $400-million.
“Thank you sir, may I have another!”
A couple of weeks ago, rumblings unrelated to bore drillings began to hint that my initial $30-million estimate for the additional foundation work was off, “way off” as a source told me and others soon confirmed.
We anticipated receiving the final (one can only hope) dollar figure at the June 12 School Building Committee meeting. The suspense only built, as those in the know were muzzled so that the big reveal could occur in front of the entire City Council at it’s June 24th meeting.
Well, today that number was officially revealed as part of the council meeting agenda, and sure enough, I was “way off.” As in nearly $17-million dollars off. $47,033,761 to be exact.
“Thank you sir, may I have another!”
Thankfully, someone apparently took the time between the School Building Committee meeting and today’s agenda release to convince Niedermeyer, I mean Skanska, to take mercy (pity?) on taxpayers and go easy on the final (one can still only hope) swing of the paddle.
So they did a little pencil sharpening and lowered the cost to Lowell’s taxpayers down to “only” an extra $39.75-million.
“Thank you sir, may I have another?”
Now, before you get excited about that “Construction Contingency” line item and hope it’s never tapped into so we can at least salvage $14.75-million, I was told “don’t hold your breath, Panos.” Which I wasn’t planning on doing, especially after seeing that asterisk at the bottom of the above screenshot and realizing we still do not have a final number.
“Thank you sir, may I have another!”
So we’ll brace for more smacks from Skanska Niedermeyer, and hope when all is said and done, joining the fraternity will have been worth it.
No need to start another food fight. We’ll just assume the position, as Kevin Bacon did, and keep taking the hits because Lowell’s students deserve so much better from that fateful 2017 election. (If you know, you know)
Which is as it should be. After all, “fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life.”
Unless you’re a taxpayer.
8 responses to ““Thank You Sir, May I Have Another””
Fat, drunk, and stupid is what led us down the path of putting lipstick on a pig instead of building new at Cawley. At least no “kids from Centralville” will be walking through that neighborhood.
It appears that $25 million of the $40 million overrun is attributed to schedule extension. That implies a poorly managed project, as there should have been activities to limit the effect on schedule caused by the hidden risks.
Will go down as the biggest mistake in the history of Lowell. We were at a fork in the road. One turn led to excellence and a revitalization while the other led to mediocrity and waste. A select group forced us down the road of mediocrity and we will pay for generations to come. A true shame. Nearly 10 years later and it still makes me angry.
Is there nothing in the CONTRACT that some over budget cost is picked up by the contractor?
Teddy let’s please remember before that paddle is taken it’s last swing what is the age of the last building to be completed. 1800s right do we think the proper sampling and and inspections took place by this elite crackerjack team that was established to make Lowell High great again. I’m sure there will be no issues with this phase watch my friend watch don’t unplug the calculator just yet as well add in the cutting edge things that have already been discarded to reign in the budget overages add that number in can’t leave it out they are going to need the entire UML crew team doing the paddling
The fact that a structural slab in a Historic Renovation project was not fully engineered nor vetted (test borings) before construction started is a basic necessity of a project 1 -10th the scale of this project. You do not start a project like this without a full existing conditions design and knowing as much as you can about foundation systems. This is and has been a major mistake of the design team and engineers. The fact that they will continue to receive additional payments is not inline with the business. This should have been hammered back on to those firms by the OPM, who is being paid directly by the city and its people to be the agent of the ownership. The design team failed on this issue, the OPM also failed by not picking up the lack of existing conditions information or addressing this and other issues prior to bidding phase of the project, neither should be seeking additional funds for work that was already in their scope. The city should be working closely with a legal team and a consulting firm, they have overpaid and excepted miss management that have produced most of the delays, these are the main factors of the spiraling costs. Delays and change orders are a killer of budgets, but if they are accepted with little to no push back, they also become the most profitable for the whole projects construction team.
I can’t think of a better way to expand the readership beyond slightly above middle-aged white guys that love Bruce Springsteen and mowing the lawn than an article based on a running Animal House theme. Imaginative, original, outside-the-box type thinking that dares to reach beyond the insulated confinements of Andover Street. Bravo, sir.
How was the Building permits ever issued with out all these necessary documents that would confirm that proper testing of existing conditions where performed. They should have been provided as part of the permitting documents before any permits where issued