The Yukon government has abandoned its $3.5-million F.H. Collins Secondary School reconstruction design.

Instead, the government announced Monday afternoon, it's moving forward with an imported campus-style school.

All three bids the government received in response to the tendered design were some $10 million over-budget.

"Yukoners expect this government to be responsible with their money,” Premier Darrell Pasloski told the Star.

"And this government will not start a project that's $10 million over-budget before construction even begins.”

While specific cost-saving estimates were not available at a technical briefing held Monday, Cynthia Tucker, the assistant deputy minister of public works, said preliminary estimates suggest the government could save "significantly” by adopting the new design option.

The Department of Highways and Public Works is evaluating a range of pre-designed, campus-style options which have been built in other jurisdictions.

A campus-style school involves a large central structure with smaller, complementary buildings on the same site.

"The campus models give you a broader range of options to consider. It tends to be more flexible in space, and it tends to allow you to phase development to address emerging needs,” said Tucker.

"We anticipate to save money over time. If we have a successful model, the model can be replicated elsewhere in the Yukon,” she added.

The government set its budget for the tendered design at $38.6 million following evaluations of the design by two independent estimators.

The lowest bid came in at $47.78 million.

Tucker noted there's a wide range of risks that contractors account for when developing a bid.

Those may have included new technology, such as the geothermal energy component of the school design, the level of media coverage, the curvature of the proposed building, and market conditions.

"But the reality is that the project, which is a substantial investment already, is $10 million over-budget, and we haven't begun construction,” Pasloski said.

"We've decided to move forward with a new design, a design that has already been constructed successfully and economically in other jurisdictions.”

To date, the government has spent $5.5 million on the F.H. reconstruction project on design work and phases one and two infrastructure construction, including sewer, water and fibre optic lines.

Education Minister Scott Kent noted the new site location of the school will determine what officials can use of the early infrastructure investments. It will also determine the future of plans to include geothermal energy.

The use of geothermal energy is still being considered, Kent said, but a change in site location may mean drilling a new well.

After the controversy late last year regarding the fate of the school's gym during construction, that's one thing Kent guaranteed: students won't be losing their gym until a new one is built. The previous plan had demolition starting later this month.

"There won't be any disruption for the students; they'll be able to stay in their gym, have their graduation ceremonies and fashion shows and sporting activities in that gymnasium until the new school is ready,” Kent said.

"That's one of the things that we can certainly commit to, to the parents and students.”

Construction was set to be completed by August 2015 with the previous design, and Kent said that's still the date officials are aiming for.

Tucker said they can realistically guarantee completion for August 2016, or a year earlier if things go really well.

The new tender will be put out for bids sometime between the fall of 2013 and spring 2014.

Under the previous plan the government had visualized a total cost of $55 million, including furniture, equipment and other incidentals.

The current school opened its doors 50 years ago.

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