The Crookston Public School District representatives met on Thursday afternoon regarding the Multi-Use Sports Complex.
Superintendent Randy Berquist and others met with their construction manager company (Gehrtz Construction), where it was announced that the school district receives 23 total bids across the board for the multi-use sports complex. The district received bids for the following operations to the complex: Electrical, mechanical, concrete, site surfacing, asphalt and pavement, site fencing, and site utilities.
“From what I can gather, the bids came in more favorable than they did in May by $400-500,000,” said Superintendent Randy Bergquist, “The biggest result of that in terms of decrease in cost is because of the earthworks pricing is more favorable than it when they came in during May.”
Berquist spoke on behalf of the district, stating they are pleased with the overall bid because of how much the cost has decreased. The total cost project is now estimated at 5.2 million dollars, which is over $400,000 less than the original estimate. The total estimate does not factor in the restroom areas or the fencing installation. “I think the overall bid we feel pretty good about, and the earthwork bid came in significantly lower,” said Bergquist, “We have a school board meeting on Monday night, and we’re going to talk about the bid process and give the school board members an update on what happens through the process and where we’re at.”
Bergquist stated the project has become more cost-effective because the start time has extended to spring, where in May of this year, many companies had their projects scheduled for the remainder of 2023.
Information about the pricing of the bids and the companies who have submitted the proposals will not be released at this time due to confirmation details between the entities.
“We use our construction manager company right now. They still need to double-check and make sure the tees are crossed, and the eyes are dotted,” said Bergquist, “The companies had submitted their bids. We want to confirm that the construction manager double-checks with the companies to ensure that what we have written down is exactly what the construction companies want to do.”
The following conversation about the complex will take place at the next school board meeting on Monday, September 25. There will reportedly be no action items on the agenda regarding the project.
