Auburn’s City Clerk on April 16 opened and read 36 bids submitted by contractors vying for some or all of the proposed Les Gove Park Campus Expansion project.
Contractors, 12 in all, were allowed to bid on the 20,000-square-foot community center on the southeast end of the park, on the activities center on the north end, and on the jobs combined.
The lowest three bids on the community center option were submitted as follows:
• Exxel Pacific, Bellingham, $6 million
• Kassel Construction, Inc., Redmond, $6.2 million
• Jones and Roberts Company, Olympia, $6.2 million.
(See box for lowest three bidders on the other options.)
Mayor Pete Lewis said given the current state of the economy and the city’s strained finances, it is possible that both buildings or neither will be built.
“We are still looking for the money,” Lewis said. “What happened was that in the midst of all the work that’s been done by (the Community Center Committee) for so long, the economy tanked, and we lost 20 percent of our sales tax.
“…We think we’ve got a way to find that money, and when we know for sure, we’ll go,” Lewis said.
Here is what the contractors bid on:
• A one-story, 20,000-square-foot community center to the north of where the old YMCA building once stood. It would include an 8,000-square-foot gathering place for as many as 450 people that would look out on the park, equipped with sliding doors that open on a patio, a lobby area, an administration area, two classrooms and a warming kitchen. Plans call for a friendship storage room where ethnic groups will store material for programs they may have in the center. The parking lot could accommodate 128 cars.
• Remodeling of the Parks, Arts and Recreation administration building for lease by the Boys and Girls Club as an activities center.
The Community Center Committee will review the bids to recommend to the City Council what projects if any get completed.
If the City is going to find the money, it will have to do so soon because the bids are only good for 35 days.
Coming at a time when the budget-constrained City is considering laying employees off, the Les Gove project poses a dilemma.
“It’s one of those things where the heart says do it but the mind tells you it’s an awful time to do it,” Lewis said. “And if you’re going to do it, you’ve got to find a way to do it so it doesn’t hurt anybody. Beyond that, it’s an easy task.”
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Making an offer
Base bids for lowest three bidders on the activities center:
• Unimark Construction Gp, Seattle, $2.7 million
• Exxel Pacific, Bellingham, $2.8 million
• Jones and Roberts Co., Olympia, $2.9 million
Base bids for lowest three bidders on community center and activities center:
• Exxel Pacific, Bellingham, $8.69 million
• Bayley Construction, Mercer Island, $8.70 million
• Kassel Construction, Inc., Redmond, $8.77 million
