91视频

Portland Public Schools has canceled a contract with Andersen Construction for pre-construction services at Jefferson High School, a district spokesman stated Wednesday.

The district exercised a contract provision to end the $4 million agreement. No action was taken by the PPS board because none was required, spokesman David Mayne stated in an email in response to questions.

The cancellation of the contract came months after an internal school board memo came to light criticizing Andersen for 鈥渄eficient鈥� management of the construction schedule, inadequate management of subcontractors, and the death of a subcontractor鈥檚 employee from injuries sustained at the Benson Polytechnic High School modernization project jobsite in June 2024.

PPS has not publicly addressed those concerns. A different reason was given for the district鈥檚 termination of the contract.

鈥淭he contract was canceled due to substantial changes in the scope of the project,鈥� Mayne stated. 鈥淲hen the contract was originally established, the Jefferson project was planned as a historic renovation. However, it has since evolved into a new construction project.鈥�

The contract was valued at $4 million, 鈥渨ith the potential to include future construction scope of work if the two parties came to an agreement,鈥� Mayne stated.

The Oregonian/OregonLive first reported on the cancellation of the contract.

Andersen鈥檚 president of its Portland office, Brian Knudsen, hung up when the 91视频 reached out for comment earlier this week, and did not respond to a subsequent email.

The lost contract adds to the homegrown contractor鈥檚 troubles in the past 11 months. Andersen previously faced scrutiny when an ironworker for subcontractor REFA Erection Inc. was killed after she was struck by a forklift on May 30, 2024, at the Benson project site. An Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division investigation found the death of Samantha 鈥淪am鈥� Deschenes was preventable; REFA was fined $40,289.

Oregon OSHA found Andersen, the general contractor, did not have sufficient knowledge of REFA鈥檚 鈥渄angerous鈥� actions, and did not fine Andersen. But Andersen faces a wrongful death lawsuit in the matter.

The lost contract comes as PPS is working to limit ballooning construction costs for a trio of upcoming high school rebuilds.

At Jefferson, the most recent project budget came in at $491 million for a 311,139-square-foot school, according to an April 2 staff memo. District officials estimate design changes could result in cost reductions of $25 million to $33 million from that price tag.

The design modifications would reduce the building to 295,716 square feet. Proposed changes would include shrinking a parking lot, cutting landscape improvements and relocating a planned Teen Parent Center to inside the building. The potential changes were presented at the April 8 board meeting.

Bora Architecture & Interiors, LEVER Architecture and PLACE landscape architects are engaged in the project.

A new request for proposals for Jefferson will be issued 鈥渋n the coming weeks,鈥� Mayne stated.

PPS is 鈥減rioritizing the critical tasks necessary to begin construction as soon as possible, including finalizing design revisions in conformance with the board鈥檚 cost-reduction framework, completing the overall project design and submitting for permits,鈥� Mayne stated.

The RFP for construction manager/general contractor services will begin with pre-construction services, according to Mayne.

鈥淭he RFP does not set the project budget nor include any construction bids,鈥� he stated.

The RFP will be open to all interested parties, Mayne stated. That could potentially include Andersen if the contractor chooses to pursue the job.

Rebidding the contract is not expected to affect the Jefferson project鈥檚 timeline, according to PPS.

鈥淭he key factors driving the construction start date remain the completion of design work and securing necessary permits,鈥� Mayne stated. 鈥淧PS is currently aiming to break ground on Phase 1 鈥� which includes site and athletic facility improvements 鈥� in summer 2026, with additional construction phases to follow. A more detailed schedule analysis will be conducted as the new design is finalized.鈥�