The Hinsdale High School District 86 Board of Education has awarded the second set of bids as part of the $145 million Future Ready Facilities project.
At its meeting Feb. 26, board members approved 24 bids totaling about $47 million in work at both Hinsdale Central and Hinsdale South high schools. The construction to improve both campuses was approved by voter referendum last spring.
In his remarks to board members, project director Marty Platten of Pepper Construction characterized the bidding period as successful.
“We had 96 bidders submit proposals for the 26 different bid packages that we had that are part of bid period two,” he said.
Two of the bids submitted — for elevators at Central and for landscaping at both schools — were rejected for being unresponsive and will be rebid.
“Neither of those will impact our phase one schedule,” Platten said.
Among the bids awarded were the following:
• $9.69 million for electrical work at Central and South
• $6.46 million for HVAC and temperature control work at both schools
• $2.79 million for masonry at both schools
• $2.75 million for site utilities
• $2.08 million for pool equipment and structural work at Central
• $2 million for structural steel and miscellaneous metal
Funds available are about $1.55 million short, or 1.07 percent, of the estimated $145.5 million cost for the entire scope of work, board members were told. Platten said he believes that discrepancy will continue to shrink.
“We still have a little bit of work to do with the bids that have been incorporated for both bid periods one and two,” Platten said. ”We’re going to continue to find value out of those, and we’ve targeted about $850,000 worth of voluntary alternates from those bid packages that we think we can work to decrease the budget from bid period two.
“If we’re successful in doing that, which we think we can be, our revised delta becomes $700,000, which is less than half a percent of the overall referendum budget, which we think puts us in a very good position, based on where we’re at with the project.”
Board member Kevin Camden praised Pepper and architect Arcon for finding ways to trim costs and meet the target budget.
“You’re doing exactly what the board told you to do, and I appreciate that,” Camden said.
Board member Keith Chval remarked at the absence of any community opposition at the meeting, in contrast to the rancor that had surrounded the referendum.
“It’s nice to see that the team has done such a nice job and that things have worked out well,” Chval said.
Phase one construction at Central is slated to begin this summer. Work will include building the new pool facility, relocating the buildings and grounds department, replacing the artificial turf surfaces and repairing the tennis courts.
