BURBANK : Board Picks Firm for School Renovations
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A Costa Mesa firm has been chosen to plan the multimillion-dollar renovation of Burbank’s public schools, even as the district struggles to finance the project.
“You’ve got a tough row to hoe, everyone does,” said Tom Blurock, head of RTA Blurock Architects of Costa Mesa, after the Burbank School Board on Thursday named the group to handle the renovation project.
RTA Blurock was one of two firms recommended to the board in June by a special citizens advisory committee, which reviewed a field of 31 candidates for the job.
The school board has drawn up a master list of more than $130 million in renovations that are needed throughout the district, including major reconstruction of Burbank and John Burroughs high schools, which both date to the 1920s.
School officials are trying to put together financing from a variety of sources, including the state, the city of Burbank and a multimillion-dollar bond issue planned for the ballot in November, 1994.
The Burbank City Council is reviewing the school board’s request for help, balancing that with the city’s own needs for street repairs and other construction projects.
Two weeks ago, the board hired three investment firms to help the school district draw up the bond referendum.
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