The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1922-05-19
SCHOOL BIDS WILL NOT BE
OPENED AS ADVERTISED
Plans and Specifications Made By Washington
Architects Called In and Present Plans May
Be Revised Before Bids Are Received

Bids for Elizabeth City's new
High School and other new pub
lie school buildings will not be
opened on May Is, 1922, as ad-
vertised. The Board of Trustees
of the Elizabeth City Graded
Schools, in a special. session
tuesday night, called in all of
lie plans and specifications and
20 bids will be received on the
-resenr plans. There is some
hing wrong somewhere.
Nflhurn. Heister & Co.. of Washing
~. = e. and Durham. n. c. are the
he architects of the new school build
rcs provided for by a bond issue of
&4nO. 900. These architects, it seems,
rave drawn up plans and specifications
"a s1ir themselves and not at all in
conformity with the ideas of the school
trustees. The plans began to be ques-
toned when local contractors found
that they were not to be given an op-
portunity to put in bids. The archi-
| tects refused to send plans and speci-
fications to Elizabeth City contractors.
1t may be that there isn't a contrac-
tor in Elizabeth City qualified to ham
die so large a contract. But there are
several contractors here who can read
plans and specifications.
Local contractors have been feeling
pretty sore over the way the whole
job has been handled to date. There
| is a lot of talk about there being a
"nigger in the woodpile." 1t is also
fact that f. F. Aydlett is Chairman
of the Board of Trustees of the Eliz-
abeth City Graded Schools.
The cancellation of the advertise
ment for bids and the calling in of the
present plans and specifications means
another delay in the letting of con-
tracts. The architects have been re-
quested to meet with the School Board
early next week and discuss certain
changes and notifications in the plans
desired by the Board. This is always
dangerous procedure: architects are
not so easily persuaded to change their
plans and when forced to change their
plans they begin to dodge responsible
ty and there is no assurance of getting
anything like a satisfactory job.
It is hardly probable now that work
will be started on the new school build
ings this summer. If work starts in
the Fall the Winter will set in before
the construction is web under way and
it may be that the city's present school
population will yet outgrow the pres
ent plans before they ever materialize.
A bond issue for the schools was
authorized by the General Assembly of
1919. That was four years ago and
we have no buildings yet. This news
paper charged four years ago that GER
tain large tax payers in this town. in
Guiding E. F. Aydlett, did not want a
large expenditure for schools and this
newspaper predicted then that there
would be every possible delay in the
matter of construction. And so it has
worked out to date.
It is hard to tell just what the loss
in time and money may eventually total
up to for Elizabeth City. Besides the
delay in getting new buildings, there
may be loss of upwards of $4,000
in architects commissions on the work.
The estimated cost of the buildings is
100000 and the usual architects COM
mission is five per cent. This would
make $4,000 on the job, but it is gen
| orally understood that Milburn, Hester
Company's figure was somewhat under
that, and 1t is hard to tell just why
the figure is lower.
| The present plans call for three
buildings: one high school building to
be erected opposite the present one;
two stories high, with 81 classrooms, a
gymnasium, auditorium with a stage
and dressing rooms, two corridors rum
ming the width of the building and one
lengthwise. The outside dimensions of
the building are PIP feet four inches
| by 167 feet four inches. The gymna-
sum and auditorium are each SO feet
four inches by 80 feet. The class
rooms are 80 feet four inches by %
feet, which is standard size for the ar-
colnmodation of 40 pupils.
Another is a colOred school building
to be of brick 213 feet four inches long
bv 143 feet five inches wide, containing
IN auditorium and II class rooms Of
the same dimensions as those of the
high school, This will be located on
Rody road. The third is wooden
building which is to be 4 temporary
structure 76 by 40 feet with six class
looms, to be located on Bank Street.