Construction bids for Appleton Public Library renovation are millions over budget, putting timeline in doubt
APPLETON - The bids for the renovation and expansion of the Appleton Public Library came in significantly over budget Tuesday, forcing project leaders to regroup to determine how to proceed.
Library project manager Dean Gazza said the electrical bid alone was $1 million more than the target.
"We are definitely trending over budget right now," Gazza told The Post-Crescent after the bid opening.
The low base bids on 32 of the 38 construction categories totaled nearly $45 million. Six categories received no qualified bids. Gazza said the target for the 38 categories was about $29 million.
Most categories received only one or two bids.
"There were several people taking out bid documents in each category, but yet some didn't bid for whatever reason," Gazza said.
The overall budget for the library project, including furnishings, audiovisual equipment and architectural and construction management fees, is $40.4 million.
According to schedule, the bids were to be considered by the Finance Committee on Monday and by the Common Council on Oct. 5.
"That depends on how the mayor would feel and on how far over we are," Gazza said. "I think there's different options within the project that we could look at. There's also looking at funding sources and everything else."
Ahead of the bid opening, Gazza was confident that architect Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) of Chicago and construction manager The Boldt Co. of Appleton had done everything possible to keep costs in line with the budget, despite a period of high inflation, labor shortages and supply-chain issues.
The bidding was delayed several times as SOM and Boldt doubled down on value engineering, which is a review of the design and materials in an attempt to lower costs. Even the bid opening was postponed to give contractors more time to refine their numbers.
"There isn't much more that we could have done differently," Gazza said. "I feel really good about knowing that."
The most recent timeline called for construction to start this fall and be substantially completed by fall 2023.
The reopening of the library, 225 N. Oneida St., is planned for spring 2024.
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Appleton closed the library in April in anticipation of construction. It is operating at a temporary site in the former Best Buy store at 2411 S. Kensington Drive.
As designed, the new library would total 107,380 square feet. Its facade would feature three curved, glass-enclosed pavilions that would integrate daylight into the building.
Geothermal wells for heating and cooling would reduce the building's carbon footprint, and a rooftop solar array would generate electricity for the local power grid.
The existing library dates to 1981 and is considered outdated, inefficient and, at 86,600 square feet, undersized.
The $40.4 million budget for the library project consists of $26.4 million from city property taxes, $2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds and $12 million in private donations.
The private money will be raised by the nonprofit organization Friends of Appleton Public Library. It is contacting lead donors in what's known as the quiet phase of the fundraising campaign. The public phase will begin once the group has reached 80% of its goal.
Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke.
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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Bids for Appleton Public Library renovation come in far over budget
