DENVER—An agency that oversees school construction in Colorado will expand an engineering investigation after news reports about construction problems at schools.
The Denver Post reported Saturday that the state Homeland Security Division will review possible structural engineering problems ( ). The newspaper has reported on potential safety problems at school built by the Neenan Co. of Fort Collins.
Earlier this month, 2-year-old Craig Middle School in northwestern Colorado was closed to students after an inspection found it failed to meet building codes. Problems have been cited at other Neenan-built schools.
“While I do not have evidence that structural engineering problems exist in schools other than those identified in the Neenan review, I am not going to be comfortable until we have completed our review of other projects,” said Kevin Klein, director of the state Homeland Security Division.
In a statement, Neenan’s president said he welcomed the expanded review.
“We would welcome a consistent, statewide review process that does what The Neenan Company’s current third-party peer review process does—assure everyone that their local schools are safe for students and educators,” president Randy Myers said.
Neenan, a major builder of Colorado schools, has been in the spotlight since its $18.9 million Craig Middle School was temporarily closed after a review found it was built to the wrong safety codes and susceptible to collapse in severe weather.
The state Division of Fire Safety, which falls under Homeland Security and oversees school plan reviews and inspections, is reviewing 20 Neenan projects to determine whether a deeper look at the company’s projects is warranted.
Klein said the state is paying an engineer between $150 and $200 an hour to review school construction projects. The expense of checking on projects already constructed is expected to reach about $20,000, then the state is likely to spend several more thousand dollars to “spot-check” structural engineers’ work for a yet-undetermined length of time, he said.
“Until I am comfortable that I can trust engineers, I’m going to double-check their work,” Klein said.
Last month, the state Department of Regulatory Agencies opened an investigation into the work of Gary Howell, the structural engineer on the Meeker project. DORA program director Angie Kinnaird Linn said the agency has not determined whether the engineering work in other schools with problems should be investigated.
“Absolutely, we want to make sure all (schools) are safe,” Kinnaird Linn said. “But I do think we need to go slow as to whether it’s a systemic issue or a matter, unfortunately, of finding issues with a major group of projects.”
The Post reported that the state Department of Education also has no plans to subject other companies to the same scrutiny that Neenan has received.
Marcia Neal, the State Board of Education vice chairman and a Grand Junction Republican, said that double-checking every building project in the state would cost too much and isn’t necessary.
“I don’t want to oversimplify, but I think that would be a bit of overkill,” she said.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
