By Brian Trompeter
The Fairfax County School Board on May 11 unanimously approved a $500,000-per-year, sole-source contract with Monumental Sports & Entertainment to rent EagleBank Arena at George Mason University’s Fairfax campus for graduation ceremonies. The contract will run for five years and have a total value of $2.5 million.
The school system’s Office of Activities and Athletic Programs is required to support high-school commencement ceremonies with indoor venues providing up to 5,000 seats. EagleBank Arena is the only such venue in Fairfax County with that capacity and the availability to host up to 25 graduations.
DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., is the only other space capable of accommodating certain FCPS high-school ceremonies, and generally hosts two to four of the county’s graduation ceremonies annually.
(Four county high schools – McLean, Langley, James Madison and George C. Marshall – will hold their ceremonies at DAR Constitution Hall this year.)
Oakton High School will hold its commencement, as usual, at EagleBank arena. That facility also will host the ceremonies of Centreville, Chantilly, Edison, Falls Church, Hayfield, Herndon, Justice, Lewis, Mount Vernon, South County, South Lakes, West Springfield, Westfield and Woodson high schools, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology, and Lake Braddock and Robinson secondary schools.)
School officials also considered Jiffy Lube Live, Capital One Hall, MGM Grand Hall and Wolf Trap for graduation ceremonies, but those venues either could not accommodate FCPS’s needs or were deemed inappropriate because of on-site alcohol sales and gambling, school officials said.
Oakton High to Get New Gym Flooring: Fairfax County School Board members on May 11 awarded a $382,250 contract to Miller Flooring Co. to replace the floor of Oakton High School’s main gymnasium.
The project will be financed using funds from the 2017 school-bond referendum.
Miller Flooring Co., which school officials deemed to be the lowest responsive and responsible bidder, has performed satisfactorily on previous FCPS projects, officials said.
School Board OKs Infrastructure Items: The Fairfax County School Board on May 11 awarded a number of contracts dealing with infrastructure at its facilities.
• School Board members awarded a $849,190 contract to Engineered Services Inc. to replace the automatic-temperature-control system at Providence Elementary School. The project will be financed via the school system’s HVAC Infrastructure Replacement and Upgrade Fund.
Engineered Services Inc., which competitively bid for the project, has performed successfully on other energy-management projects for FCPS, officials said.
• Seeking to replace the current self-contained HVAC unit serving the fifth floor at the Gatehouse Administrative Center in Merrifield, the School Board awarded a $664,264 contract to Daikin Applied Americas Inc. This project will be financed by the school system’s HVAC Infrastructure Replacement and Upgrade Fund.
Daikin Applied Americas successfully has performed in a sub-contractor capacity on other HVAC projects for the school system.
