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Orange County Register (California)
The Newport-Mesa Unified School District board on Tuesdaytacked on an additional $2 million to a budget for construction of an aquatic center at Estancia High School in Costa Mesa.
The board's unanimous vote increases the project's budget to $9 million from $7 million. The funds will come out of the district's general fund.
Plans call for an Olympic-sized 50-meter swimming pool, restrooms, team rooms, shade structures, a snack bar, lunch area, coaches' offices and furniture, said district spokeswoman Annette Franco.
Shade structures and team rooms were not included in the original plans, Franco said.
"Usually when we construct these types of projects on our school campus, we do the main project and then throughout the year find money … to add on the rest of it little by little," she said.
The board also approved putting the proposal out to bid as a design-build project, through which one company would design and then build the structure.
The swimming pool originally was scheduled to open in the fall of 2018, but higher-than-expected bids delayed construction. Now it's slated to open in 2019.
"We had to go back out and do some significant reflection on this issue," said board member Martha Flour.
The existing L-shaped pool at Estancia, the only district high school without an Olympic-sized swimming pool, measures 25-by-27 yards.
The pool was drained in September, prompting an online petition to have it refilled for the 2018 swim season.
The district will spend $100,000 to reopen the site, possibly by March.
"I think most of them are very excited that they're getting more than they were getting before even though it's being delayed," Franco said.
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