CITY SCHOOLS Niles opens 8 bids for demolition

The board could award a contract for the project at a meeting later this month.
By SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
NILES -- City schools officials opened eight bids Wednesday from companies interested in tearing down the former Edison Junior High building.
Bids ranged from $77,277 on the low end to $214,000 on the high end.
John A. DeFrance, an architect with Olsavsky Jaminet Architects in Youngstown, who is helping oversee the project, said one of the reasons for the disparity in bids could be the recent rise in steel prices.
Housed within the former school are several steel lockers, steel beams and other items that could be salvaged for scrap metal. That could be figured into a company's bid, allowing them to offer a lower bid, he said.
"One company may look at that and see no value, while another may look at it and figure it's worth their while to salvage it," he said.
Also at play is familiarity with the structure, he added. A company that attended pre-bid walk-throughs of the school may have a better idea of how much manpower will be involved with demolishing the structure, which could affect the bid.
Bids received Wednesday were:
UAll Excavating Co. of Youngstown, $77,277.
UBaumann Enterprises of Garfield Heights, Ohio, $149,800.
URichard Boccia Construction Co. Inc. of Niles, $118,000.
UEmpire Dismantlement Corp. of Tonawanda, N.Y., $214,000.
UM & amp;M Inc. of Vienna, $120,719.
UO.B.O. Demolition and Construction Inc. of Cleveland, $133,000.
URudzik Excavating Inc. of Struthers, $115,000.
UDaniel A. Terreri and Sons Inc. of North Jackson, $148,000.
Bob Wurdock of URS/O'Brien Kreitzberg of Niles, the project manager for the job, said state law requires officials to meet with any company that submits a bid 20 percent lower than the average of all bids to ensure the company understood the terms of the project.
Once it's determined whether the company submitted a proper bid, all of the bids will be reviewed and a recommendation will be made to local school officials on which company to choose.
Awarding the contract
Superintendent Patrick N. Guliano said the board of education is expected to award a contract at the next regular meeting July 29, and demolition could begin within two weeks of that.
The board closed Edison Junior High School at the end of the 2002-03 school year after the construction and opening of Niles Middle School. Edison was erected in 1917 and originally served as the city's high school.
School officials had planned to have the Church Street structure torn down last summer, but concerns from the Environmental Protection Agency about the amount of asbestos in the building forced the board to throw out all previous bids.
Prisoners from Ohio Penal Industries Inc. have worked since last fall to remove asbestos from the structure.
slshaulis@vindy.com