Bids for Austintown school project come in low

Staff report

austintown

Bids came in more than $200,000 under estimates for the first phase of construction for two schools.

The Austintown school district opened bids earlier this week for the removal of the rear portions of Watson Elementary and Frank Ohl Intermediate schools to make room for its new kindergarten-through-second grade and third-through-fifth-grade buildings.

B&J Electric of Poland was the lowest bidder for the electrical portion of the project with a price of $30,229 and R. T. Vernal Paving and Excavating Company Inc. of North Lima was low bidder at $2,471,635.33 for the demolition and removal portion. B&J’s bid was $1,300 under the projected cost and Vernal’s was $211,800 less than estimated. The district received seven bids.

Superintendent Vince Colaluca said construction will get under way quickly. He said the lowest bidders will be contacted, and the school board will vote within a week to award contracts. Construction on the two new buildings is expected to be completed by August 2013.

Once the excavation begins, Falcon Drive off of Idaho Road will be closed, Colaluca added.

He asked that students and parents be patient. The Raccoon Road and Burkey Avenue entrances will be open and Watson and Frank Ohl will be accessible from Idaho Road.

An access road, to the right of Watson, should be completed by November, Colaluca said.

When the $50 million project is complete, all 5,000 districtstudents will be centrally located on the 97-acre campus.