THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT  
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Sunday, May 14, 1995                   TAG: 9505140122
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B1   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: BY PERRY PARKS, STAFF WRITER 
                                             LENGTH: Medium:   80 lines

PRE-APPROVED BUILDING PLANS WOULD CUT COSTS, OWENS PROMISES SCHOOLS SHOULD AIM FOR UTILITY, HE SAYS, RATHER THAN FLAIR.

As school construction costs continue to plague districts throughout the state, Albemarle-area Rep. Bill Owens is attacking the problem from two fronts.

While a months-old Owens bill to give counties a 1-cent sales tax option for school construction waits its turn in a finance committee, the 1st District representative is pushing a new measure that he says could shave construction costs by hundreds of thousands of dollars per project.

Owens wants the state to buy or develop a set of pre-approved school plans that could be used by North Carolina districts with construction needs. The library of building plans, he said, would dramatically reduce architect fees and could save time on building projects.

Too many schools are designed ``just to look very attractive architecturally so it can be put in some magazine,'' Owens said. ``Well, that drives the architect cost up tremendously.''

The model plans in Raleigh - maybe 10 no-frills designs each for high, middle and elementary schools - would allow school officials to bypass the design process by picking a finished school plan to fit their needs, he said.

The bill, which would cost $2 million over two years, attracted some 67 co-sponsors in its first four hours, Owens said. Only three representatives he asked to sign on turned him down.

School districts would not be required to use the state-held plans, Owens said, but they would have the option. The state fee, 1 percent of construction costs, would beat the average cost of architect fees for a new design, Owens said.

Owens said he has a ``lot of support on the surface. . . . I know there's going to be very strong opposition from the architects across the state.''

Tim Kent, executive director of the North Carolina chapter of the American Institute of Architects, cited a number of objections to Owens' bill.

Among the concerns are the difficulty of modifying plans to meet site-specific issues, the problem of standardizing school plans as the state works to decentralize school operations, and the potential for construction costs to rise if specific plans eliminate certain suppliers.

The most important issue, Kent said, is the question of who would be liable for buildings built from pre-designed plans owned by the state. Major insurance firms are also concerned by that question, he said.

Kent, who said he did not know if the bill's passage would reduce revenue for architects, said using the plans would result in lower-quality schools.

``The word `cheaper' is appropriate,'' Kent said of schools built from model plans. ``You will get what you pay for.''

Owens conceded that districts would have to hire architects to tailor model plans to particular sites. But he said the cost would still be less than designing a building from scratch.

Even a 3 percent across-the board savings could take a chunk out of the $5 billion in school construction needs that have been identified in North Carolina, Owens said.

``We're not talking about pocket change,'' he said.

Owens' former colleagues on the Pasquotank County Board of Commissioners have voiced support for both of the General Assembly freshman's school initiatives.

``If it'll save money for the counties, then I think it's a good idea,'' Pasquotank Commissioner Chairman Zee Lamb said of the model schools plan. ``We need to find every way possible to cut down on the expenses.''

Pasquotank County is planning renovations to several elementary schools and recently found a site for a new middle school it plans to build. The projects are expected to cost around $23 million.

Commissioners have said Owens' proposal to let counties float referenda that would add a cent of sales tax for local school funds may be the only hope for constructing a new high school in the near future.

The sales tax bill has been sitting in committee for about two months and could face challenges from staunch anti-tax legislators, Owens said.

But he added that ``the higher-echelon people in both parties support it'' and had asked him to be patient. ILLUSTRATION: Photo

Rep. Bill Owens is attacking school construction costs on two

fronts.

by CNB