DOWNTOWN ARENA Board poised to OK 3 pacts
Officials will consider three other arena contracts in two to three weeks.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The city's board of control is expected Monday to approve three contracts, worth more than $1.4 million, for the downtown arena.
The board will consider approving:
UA $914,567.68 contract with Irwin Seating Co. The Grand Rapids, Mich., company was the lone bidder to install seating for about 5,800 people at the arena. The engineer's estimate for the job was $1 million.
UA $333,000 contract with Eugenio Painting Co. of Gross Pointe Woods, Mich. The company submitted the lowest of three bids for the work. The engineer's estimate was $375,000.
UA $153,000 contract with Custom Fabricators Inc. of Beachwood. The company was the lone bidder for the project, and the engineer's estimate was $200,000.
The city opened bids for seven arena projects, including these three, on March 8. A $462,000 contract recently was given to Cherokee Glass of Ravenna for the arena's windows and other glass materials.
Proposals for the three other projects are being reviewed by Hunt Construction Group, the Dallas company overseeing the project.
Those projects are for kitchen equipment for the arena's concessions and luxury boxes, landscape and irrigation, and interior flooring.
Those projects will be submitted to the board of control for approval in two to three weeks, said Carmen Conglose Jr., deputy director of the city's public works department.
Key projects get priority
"We're phasing in the more critical construction projects first to get them started as soon as possible," he said. "Once we award those other three projects, all the major items" for the arena will be awarded.
There may be a package of minor projects, Conglose said. The city may use vendors on the state bidding list for some of the minor work, but no decision has been made, he said.
The arena, expected to cost about $41 million, is scheduled to open in November, city officials say.
It is being built on property between the Market Street and South Avenue bridges.
skolnick@vindy.com