Artist rendering of a new City Hall complex in Stevens Point. Image courtesy: City of Stevens Point
STEVENS POINT, WI (WSAU) — The Stevens Point City Council has voted to award a $14.8 million contract to Miron Construction for a new City Hall at 1039 Ellis Street.
Mayor Mike Wiza said he and the rest of the city staff were pleasantly surprised when nearly all the bids came in under the $15 million budget. “We had a very hard ceiling at $15 million. Most of the bids came in under that.”
Justin Marquis with Sommerville Architects, who has been helping the city through the process, said reading between the lines shows that the contractors understood the project. “As the Mayor mentioned, all of the bids came in very close to each other. So we feel that they were reading the drawings appropriately and playing off the same drawing set. They also [indicated] that they had received all the addendums, [meaning] they should have been bidding off of the latest drawing set.”
According to the agenda packet, Miron’s bid was under $14 million, though such projects include a 10% buffer, or contingency, to account for cost overruns or change orders.
In addition to awarding the base bid, Alders considered seven alternates for the project. Four of them were approved: an upgraded backup generator, rooftop solar panels, bird-friendly glass, and an outdoor irrigation system. Alternatives that were voted down include a rooftop patio area and a parking garage with additional solar panels.
Wiza noted that the alternates were essentially a staff wish list of items that could be removed if the bids were high. Miron’s initial proposal included all seven, giving the council a chance to consider them all.
Crews took down the former Weber Tackle building in February and March. Work on the new building could begin in the next four weeks.
The project was made possible by a land-swap deal that will allow Portage County to remodel the Courthouse as soon as the city vacates its portion of the building.
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