Stadium demolition bid comes in over budget

Board to borrow $5.5 million to build new facility

The Boyertown Area School Board approved financing for a $5.5 million loan for a stadium project, at the same meeting at which bidding for demolition for that project came in over budget.

The board voted to reject the single bid for the demolition of the existing grandstand and change the specifications before going out to rebid.

The project’s architect, Jay Clough of KCBA Architects, said the re-bid would not impact the timing of the project, and the stadium is expected to be ready for the 2019-20 fall football season.

“I’m confident we can do better,” he said of the pricing.

The district must advertise for the new bid for three weeks, with an eye on opening bids on March 4.

Clough said he hopes to bring a recommendation to the board by March 5 and get board approval for a contractor at the March 12 meeting, so that a contract can be in signed by April 1. “If we don’t get a contract in place by then we will miss the

fall football season,” Clough warned.

The demolition is the first piece of a project that will rebuild the district’s 33-year-old stadium, which has structural damage and suffers from numerous dangerous conditions.

The project is officially named the ADA, Title IX, Athletic, Maintenance Modernization project. It involves demolition of the existing grandstand, construction of a new one, along with a new field house with bathrooms, two concession stands, three ticket booths, storage, a platform for disabled visitors, new fencing, and topdressing the field.

Also included in the project is a full-service kitchen, maintenance building, and upgrades to the softball field that comprise dugouts, storage, lighting and concessions. The softball field upgrades are required to comply with Title IX, a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in education.

In January, the board authorized two contracts for the project’s design and construction. Those include an agreement with KCBA Architects at an amount not to exceed $337,549, and a second contract with Barry Islett and Associates, an engineering firm, in an amount not to exceed $293,000.

On Tuesday, the board approved a resolution to finance the project through a general obligation note in the principal amount not to exceed $5,500,000 “at a fixed rate of 3.48 percent for a 20-year term.”

Costs to demolish the grandstand and build new bleachers and a press box were estimated at $1.8 million. District officials did not specify the total of the bid that came in higher than anticipated, but the district’s Facilities Engineer, Bill Gasper, stressed that the rejected bid was for demolition only.

The new bleachers are already being built off-site, and another bid related to electrical work was acceptable, Gasper said.

The demolition bid “was considerably higher than what we expected it to be,” Gasper said.

The original bid specifications had been developed with advice from contractors, with cost in mind, he said.

“We thought we had the most cost effective method, but due to economies of scale, that has changed,” he said.

The architect has now changed those specifications and legal advertisements for the bid were set to go out this week.

The stadium project will be completed in two phases, with phase one consisting primarily of dismantling the existing stadium, while phase two will entail rebuilding it, according to Gasper.

While the entire project won’t be completed by next fall, the district has been working with Colebrookdale Township to ensure that temporary occupancy will be granted before final completion, he said.

“Our goal is to use the stadium by the 2019-2020 school year,” said district Chief Financial Officer Rebecca Clouser.

Clough told the board he was confident that, under the new specifications, the bids would come in within the budgeted amount. But, board member Christine Neiman asked what would happen if the demolition costs once again come in higher than anticipated.

“If the demolition doesn’t fit in with the financing we will have to revisit it,” said Superintendent Dana Bedden.

MeDiAnewS groUP File Photo the Boyertown Area School District plans to tear down the damaged high school stadium and build a new one.

MEDIANEWS GROUP FILE PHOTOS Given the conditions at the stadium, events such as spring track and graduation had to be moved in 2018.

Water damage to the existing stadium was extensive enough that the Boyertown School Board decided it would be a better use of taxpayer money to build a new stadium for $5 million.