Bids for the Mower County Multipurpose Building were opened and announced on Friday before a group representing approximately ten contractors.

Saturday, December 23, 2000

Bids for the Mower County Multipurpose Building were opened and announced on Friday before a group representing approximately ten contractors.

Building construction base bids ranged from a low of $6.5 million from Larson Contracting Inc. of Albert Lea to a high bid of $7.7 million from Schroeder/Leverington Inc. of Minneapolis. The other bidders were: Henkel Construction of Mason City, The Joseph Company Inc. of Austin, Metcon of Faribault, Wagner Construction Company of Austin, Fulco Construction of Chaska and ECI Total Building and Construction Services Inc. of Mendota Heights.

Base bids for ice equipment ranged from a low of $745,000 from Rink Tech International of Little Canada for direct refrigeration to a high of $887,586 from Commercial Refrigeration Systems of Virginia for indirect refrigeration. The final ice equipment bidder was Ice Builders of Liverpool, N.Y.

Dasher board base bids ranged from a low of $148,743 from Becker Arena Products of Burnsville to a high of $225,844 from Athletica of Minneapolis. The additional bid was from Cascadia Sports Systems Inc. of Port Moody, British Columbia, Canada.

Each bid submitted included alternate bid amounts, of either additions or deductions to the base bid amount.

"I believe there is not that much budgeted for it," said Fourth District County Commissioner Leonard Miller. "So this presents a problem with the amount." Miller added that the budgeted amount deficit is approximately $1 million.

"That bids would come in high is not a shock to me," said City Council Member-at-Large Dick Chaffee. "At this time, construction costs have definitely gone up." He listed other costs, such as utility expenses, which have also been raised in recent months. Chaffee stated that the decision-makers connected with the building project will need to figure out what to do from this point forward.

The official bid tabulations should be completed on Dec. 27. County Coordinator Craig Oscarson said that the county "may or may not" use the entire 60-day award period. After review by the architect and commissioners, the recommendations will be forwarded to the county board for a decision.