The El Dorado School Board agreed unanimously Monday evening to hire Ideal Construction as a construction manager for the district's new intermediate school that will be built at the site of the old El Dorado High School.
The decision quickly followed interviews the board conducted with several construction management companies last week.
"We were challenged in selecting one company that we felt was the best fit for the El Dorado School District, but with that said, I would like to recommend Ideal Construction as the construction management company for our building project," School Board President Susan Turbeville said.
The new intermediate school's construction planning began shortly after the ESD's successful millage campaign concluded with 52% of voters approving a 5 mill increase to fund the build in early August. During the board's regular meeting that month, architect Blake Dunn, of CADM Architecture, suggested members consider hiring a construction management firm to oversee the whole project.
"With the scale of the project and the scope, I feel like we really would benefit in the design of the project having that real-time extra set of eyes at the table when we're talking about structural, foundational, dirt work," Dunn said then.
By the end of the month, the district had published requests for qualifications (RFQs), and when the board met in September, they'd already had the opportunity to screen the submissions.
Seven companies submitted information in response to the district's RFQ: Baldwin & Shell, of Little Rock; CDI Contractors, of Little Rock; Clark Contractors, of Little Rock; C.R. Crawford Construction, of Fayetteville, Hill & Cox Corporation, of Hot Springs; Ideal Construction Company, of El Dorado; and Nabholz Construction, of Little Rock.
During their meeting on Sept. 11, school board members agreed with Superintendent Jim Tucker's recommendation to interview four companies: CDI Contractors, Clark Contractors, C.R. Crawford Construction and Ideal Construction.
"We felt privileged and honored to have such good responses," Tucker said in September. "We felt good about all of them, but it really came down to what we feel like is going to fit us and our community."
Last week, board members, along with Tucker and district Maintenance Director Justin Small, interviewed representatives from the four companies.
"Without a doubt, all are very qualified for the construction and the project that we have before us. They all did an excellent job in their presentations," Turbeville said Monday.
In their RFQ submission, Ideal Construction highlighted their previous work in Union County, including at the Junction City School District and the ESD, as well as South Arkansas Regional Hospital, the South Arkansas Arts Center and the El Dorado Welcome Center, among others.
"We want your facilities to exceed the needs of today's Wildcat and be built to last for Wildcats of the future," wrote former Wildcats football coach Steven Jones, who now works as business development manager at Ideal, in a letter accompanying the company's submission. "This structure will be the highlight of our district, my neighborhood and an important addition to El Dorado."
Turbeville said Ideal will begin working with Dunn and CADM immediately on the new intermediate school.
"With that, we will begin the project," she said after hearing a chorus of "ayes" from board members agreeing to hire Ideal.
Tucker has previously estimated that the intermediate school will cost $55-65 million to build over two-three years.