FVCC accepts one bid, rebids another
The Flathead Valley Community College Board of Trustees accepted a low bid of $10.085 million Monday from Swank Enterprises for the new Arts and Technology Building.
Swank beat the other bidder, Sletten Construction of Great Falls, by more than $1.5 million.
Reiber-Bodell Construction of Missoula submitted the low bid for the Occupational Trades Building contract. However, the lowest bid exceeded the engineer's estimate by $520,000.
Trustees opted to make design changes and rebid the project after college President Jane Karas presented several options.
She said the board could accept the low bid but didn't recommend that because project costs already exceed the $15.8 million in bonds approved by voters.
The other options were to rebid or negotiate contract changes with the low bidder. Rebidding would allow all contractors a chance to bid with the new specifications but would delay the bid award to the end of March or early April.
All three approaches were acceptable under Montana law, Karas said.
After a short discussion, trustees unanimously opted to rebid the Occupational Trades Building.
Karas said preliminary discussions with architects indicated that a change from precast concrete would save about a half-million dollars. Other changes under consideration would trim another $100,000 from the engineer's estimate.
Bids received by the college for the Arts and Technology Building were
-$10,085,400 from Swank, and
-$11,653,100 from Sletten.
Those received for the Occupational Trades Building were
-$4,523,500 from Reiber-Bodell,
-$4,550,000 from Sletten, and
-$4,894,000 from Swank.
After the meeting, Karas said that rebidding the project would delay building completion by about a month. She expects the facility will be finished in time for spring semester 2007.
The college broke ground at the end of September for the three new buildings designed by Architects Northwest and Rozeboom Miller Architects.
The ceremony marked the end of a nearly three-year setback caused by lawsuits after the December 2002 bond election.
Because of the delay, construction costs escalated by about $5 million over the original estimates. However, college officials and the architects made changes to reduce the difference to $3.5 million.
The college foundation recently launched a campaign to raise the additional dollars.
The earlier cuts and those anticipated to save more than $600,000 won't compromise the functioning of the Occupational Trades Building, Karas said.
Along with five garage bays, the new building includes a receiving-storage area, two classrooms, three faculty offices, and a student resource area and conference room.
Trustees earlier approved a $297,000 contract with Settle Construction for site work for the trades building. It is the first building scheduled for completion.
The Arts and Technology Building is next, with a finish date estimated in spring 2007.
At 61,500 square feet, the structure features one large and two small meeting rooms and a 200-seat black-box theater. The two-story building also houses an instructional kitchen for the culinary arts program.
Built of concrete and glass with metal and wood siding, the building design includes teleconferencing capabilities, an art gallery, plaza and arts courtyard.
The third project of the campus expansion comes online in summer 2007. The Early Childhood Education and Care Center will serve as a learning lab for child-care students while providing day care for as many as 50 children.
Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.