The Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High school board approved seven construction bids last week as site work on the school’s major facility renovation and addition project has begun.

Seven bid packages were approved on June 8 covering the areas of structural and miscellaneous steel, openings, roof, fire suppression, plumbing and mechanical piping, HVAC/sheet metal/controls, and electrical.

Base bids for the seven contracts cost a total of $39,681,582.

The construction work is divided into 13 bid packages.

In May, the first five bid packages were approved, totaling $10,182,114 and covering the areas of concrete, precast materials, elevator construction, and excavation.

The overall project design was also modified last month to bring total costs down from an anticipated $86 million to $74.5 million.

Major design changes included reducing the planned physical education area in the field house addition from two stories down to one and reducing the planned STEM spaces.

The project’s original budget was $70 million, but construction and material costs came in higher than anticipated.

The district is planning to sell a third round of bonds in the spring to generate an additional $4.8 million.

Taking advantage of favorable market conditions and the school’s bond rating, BBCHS is projecting to receive over $67 million from selling $62 million in bonds.

Meanwhile, site work has begun on campus, starting with the removal of asphalt behind the school.

“We’re still on schedule,” Superintendent Matt Vosberg said. “We’re excited to get moving on it.”

The next upcoming step will be starting to pour the foundation for the field house addition, he said.

Bids awarded

The contract for structural steel and miscellaneous steel went to Arcorp Structures LLC, of Chicago, for $7,459,000.

The contract for openings went to Piggush Simoneau Inc., of Kankakee, for $5,478,382. PSI is also the construction manager for the project.

The contract for roofing went to Langlois Roofing Inc., of Kankakee, for $1,733,250.

The contract for fire suppression went to Matco Fire Protection Inc., of Paxton, for $1,300,000.

The contract for plumbing and mechanical work went to Piping Glade Plumbing & Piping Co., of Kankakee, for $5,977,700.

The contract for HVAC/Sheet Metal/Controls also went to Glade Plumbing & Piping Co. for $8,077,700.

The contract for Electrical/Communications & Electronic Safety & Security went to Ruder Electric, of Kankakee, for $9,655,550.

“I do want to draw attention again ... four of the six contractors are local contractors,” noted Ramie Kolitwenzew, chief school business official. “So we know that that dollar is circulating and generating [in the community] every time.”

Bid competition?

Board member Lubow Lewicky noted that, for the HVAC and plumbing contracts, three companies were listed, but Glade was the only company to submit a bid.

“I’m curious why nobody else bid,” Lewicky said. “Is that normal in the industry? I mean, you have one bid, which you have to accept their [prices] by default.”

She asked if the board should be concerned that the pricing is not competitive with only one bidder.

Bob BeDell, senior project manager with PSI, said that those packages were bid twice. The other contractors listed asked questions about the project but did not ultimately present bids.

He said some of the reason there weren’t more takers is the proximity of BBCHS to other markets.

Being in the middle of Chicago to the north and Champaign to the south means a lot of the regional contractors are busy.

“It all depends on how much work is out there for these contractors to bid,” BeDell said.

PSI was also the only company to bid for the openings contract. The fire suppression bid package received two bids, and the roof, steel and electric packages all received three bids.