City Council accepts construction bid for Riverside Park facility

 The Springfield City Council during a special meeting Tuesday evening, July 23, accepted a construction bid to build a facility to house concessions and restrooms in the sports complex area in Riverside Park.

The council reviewed the only bid received on the building and plaza. The local Salonek Concrete and Construction Inc’s bid was $584,744.   

With $410,000 in funds available for the project, subject to an additional $10,000 from FEMA, it was back to the drawing board to determine what could be changed to lower the construction costs.  

Salonek Inc. proposed reducing the plaza design to lower the cost $133,000, and change plaza materials and various other smaller changes for a total proposal $419,994.  

Salonek Project Manager Ryan Breisch said that change orders and value engineering could be done to create a project affordable with the funds available. He suggested that some changes could be made to lower the cost by reducing the plaza design on the east and west sides, changing accessible ramp to aluminum rather than concrete,  omitting the licensed survey, and omitting the performance and payment bond.

Dale Lindmeier and Steve Helget, representatives from the Springfield Baseball Association, attended the council’s meeting last Tuesday evening, and said that they would like to retain the design for the complete plaza to the west and the original concrete accessible ramp.  They said they are researching a different block to use instead of the Allen block, that could possibly save approximately $90,000,  and suggested some substitutions for various other products for cost savings.   They also said they know of a potential donor who is impressed with the original design and might be willing to make a substantial donation that could move the project forward.

It was a difficult decision for the councilors — to accept a construction bid with not all figures in place.   They held firm in their decision that the City would not commit more money to the project. 

See complete story in this week's edition of the Springfield Advance-Press.