Dartblog

When the College files a building permit with the Town of Hanover, it lists the estimated cost of a project. The cost on the permit is usually close to the figure that the College announces publicly.

But the story doesn’t end there. Invariably the various stakeholders in any Dartmouth building project intervene and chaotically add expensive changes. And often the administration tells contractors to speed up construction for PR reasons. The result is that the final cost of construction balloons out of control.

Fortunately, we can find out the true cost of the College’s follies by looking at the Certificate of Occupancy that the Town issues once construction is finished. Let’s take a look at the swim docks:

● On February 25, 2011, the College announced that the new swim docks would cost $200,000.

● In a building permit application dated May 6, 2011, the cost was estimated at $193,500.

● However, the project’s final Certificate of Occupancy puts the real cost of the project at $270,000 — a 35-36% overrun from the initial estimates. Needless to say, the final cost figure was never announced by the College.

As we have seen regarding the renovation of the Hanover Inn, the management of construction at the College is an expensive mess. The waste of money is unconscionable.

Addendum: Construction projects can come in on time and on budget — as long as professional people closely manage the entire operation. Anyone involved in the construction trade in Hanover knows that this is never the case as regards Dartmouth. In fact, Upper Valley builders regularly amuse themselves by swapping tales of the College’s incompetence.

Addendum: Lest you think that $70,000 is de minimis, it is enough money to pay the annual salary of a brilliant young humanities professor, or two cook’s helpers w/o a high school education at Thayer Dining Hall.