Wilson bids look good to school officials
YOUNGSTOWN — Bids on the new Wilson Middle School came in much better than school officials had anticipated.
The school board voted Monday to award seven construction contracts for the new building that total about $10.5 million.
That’s $1.2 million higher than the original 2004 estimate on the project but nearly $2 million lower than the revised estimate school officials were given in June of this year.
Rising costs of materials and fuel over the last four years were expected to drive the construction price up, officials were told.
Steve Ludwinski, senior project manager for Heery International Inc., the district’s project manager on its $190 million, 14-school rebuilding program, said the Wilson bids were very competitive and engineers worked closely with the bidders to keep costs as low as possible.
Only Wilson and the proposed Rayen Middle School remain on the project list and the district doesn’t know yet if Rayen will be built as a free-standing facility or as an addition to the Harding Elementary School.
Read more in Wednesday’s Vindicator and Vindy.com