The first bids on North Pike School District’s bond projects were opened Thursday afternoon.
Architect Gary Bailey and representatives of some of the bidders met in the district’s central office to get the first looks at what the four-classroom addition and band hall expansion at North Pike High School might cost.
Four companies entered bids on the high school projects, with the lowest aggregate bid coming from Casablanca Construction of Hattiesburg.
The company bid $910,000 for the classroom addition, $928,000 for the band hall expansion and $25,000 on a project alternate that would replace the skin of the existing band hall. The total bid was $1,863,000.
Pike Construction, based in McComb, had the second lowest aggregate bid, with $870,000 bid on the classrooms, $980,000 on the band hall and $21,000 on the alternate, for a total of $1,871,000.
Jay-Van Company, also of Hattiesburg, bid $1,887,000 for the projects, including $958,000 for the classrooms, $899,000 for the band hall and $30,000 for the alternate.
The remaining bidder, Diversified Construction Services of Madison, bid $2,015,000 for the projects,
The bids were “a little higher than the estimates, but they were in what would be considered a normal range,” Bailey said. “They’re not low enough to pay for a water tank.”
A problem the district has run into on another bond project, a new upper elementary school, has been getting enough water and pressure to the proposed site to properly operate the sprinkler system that is required to be installed in new school buildings. The likeliest solution now is to build a water tank on site, which could cost $250,000 to $300,000.
Bailey said plans and specifications for the upper elementary project will be available for bidders to peruse on the Dale | Bailey architecture firm’s website in two to three weeks.
Bids are tentatively set to be opened on the upper elementary project on Sept. 5.
