UPDATED: Miller Ave. Elementary School Construction Bids Come In

Updated 1:46 p.m. March 8

The Ames Community School Board's Facilities committee plans to recommend on Monday signing a contract with Woodruff Construction, Kruck Plumbing & Heating and DeVries Electric for the construction of a new elementary school on Miller Avenue.

The contractors were the lowest bidders for the project offering a combined bid of $9.626 million. That's $1.5 million under the project's construction budget said Ames School Board Superintendent Tim Taylor.

Woodruff's base bid and alternates amounted to a total bid of $6.285 million for construction. Kruck offered $2.321 million and DeVries offered $980,000.

The bids and plans for the school will be discussed during the regular meeting on Monday.

Rochon offered the lowest base bid, but once alternates including a wood gym floor, terrazzo flooring, roof monitors (that allow natural light into the building) and burnished CMU (decorative concrete blocks) were added Woodruff's bid was the lowest.

Dean Synder's base bid with selected alternates was $6.686 million, Edge Commercial's was $6.612 million, HPC Construction's bid was $6.449 million and Rochon was $6.298 million.

Other mechanical construction bids from Brockway Mechanical, Excel Mechanical and LA Fulton were all above $2.5 million with selected alternates.

Other bids for electric were $1.108 million from Drees Heating & Plumbing, and $1.132 million from Van Maanen Electric.

Previous Story

An initial review of base bids for the new Miller Avenue elementary school have come within the project's budget, Ames Community School District officials said Thursday.

Bids for the project were opened Thursday morning and will be discussed at a facilities committee at 11:30 a.m. Friday.

"Base bids by Dean Snyder, Edge Commercial, HPC Construction, Rochon and Woodruff Construction ranged from $5.96 million to $6.38 million. Each firm offered bids for up to seven alternate projects in addition to its base bid," Kathy Hanson Director of School, Community and Media Relations, wrote in a release.

"Four firms submitted bids on the project’s mechanical construction package and three firms presented bids on the project’s electrical construction package, as well," Hanson wrote.

The winning bids will be determined at the school board's regular meeting 6:30 p.m. Monday.

RDG, the school's architect, estimated the constrution, site work and geothermal system to cost about $11.7 million in a budget estimate. The school is one of three new buildings that the district plans to build with funds from a $55 million bond referendum approved by voters last year.

The school on Miller Avenue would replace Edwards Elementary. Site work has already begun.

Ames Newsletter/Ames Patch Facebook page/Twitter: @AmesPatch