COST DOUBLES
New library over budget
Creating a new library branch out of an old west-side firehall is going to be “very expensive,” according to Mayor Drew Dilkens, citing a surprising new $5.5-million cost that’s more than double what it was.
The projected cost for the John Muir branch was originally $2.5 million. But the general contractor bids that came in for the John Muir branch in November are so high that even after negotiating with the lowest bidder to knock the price down by $258,000, the total cost (when all other expenses are added) comes in at $5.5 million.
“It will be very expensive to save that heritage building, let’s put it that way,” the mayor said Sunday from Lake of Ozarks, Mo., where’s he’s part of a Windsor delegation bidding to host the 2022 Can-Am Police-Fire Games.
The high price is partly due to a long list of extra costs associated with the complications of renovating a 96-year-old building instead of building new, plus a recent escalation in local construction prices caused by the hot economy. Several city projects have been hammered with high bids in recent months.
“Think of construction escalation and put it in the context of a heritage building, actually two heritage buildings,” Dilkens said, referring to the fact that the library project includes not just renovating the old firehall on Mill Street, but also the stables in the back.
Dilkens said everyone present was surprised when the envelopes containing the bids were opened last month. The winning bid — being recommended by city staff and the library’s board, and going to council for approval Dec. 18 — is from Intrepid General Limited, whose price is $4.65 million after staff sat down and negotiated changes that save the city $258,000.
Dilkens, who chairs the library board, said if this project can be done without jeopardizing other city projects, it’s important for the city to show a leadership role when it comes to preserving its heritage buildings.
“This is important for the library system, it’s important for Sandwich Town and it’s important for preserving our heritage,” he said.
The John Muir project, named after the prominent west-side educator, volunteer and booster, is the middle project of a $7.9-million plan to build or expand three library branches, one after another.
The first, the $2.5-million W.F. Chisholm Branch in South Walkerville, was opened this fall on budget. The third project is the 6,000-squarefoot addition to the busy Budimir Branch in South Windsor, but the high pricing of the John Muir project is going to delay the start of the Budimir work from one year to two.