Lowest Newell bid at just under $3 million

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August 8, 2012

Lowest Newell bid at just under $3 million

By Richard Gaines Staff Writer The Gloucester Daily Times Wed Aug 08, 2012, 12:00 AM EDT

The low bidder for the contract to reconstruct Newell Stadium and its field — work that must begin in September and be finished by next June — was identified Tuesday as Heimlich Landscaping and Construction Corp. of Woburn.

Heimlich proposed to complete the work including the new artificial turf field, field lights, a red track, track, lights, a bleacher upgrade, a jumping pit cover and new visitors’ bleachers for $3,388,575.

Heimlich’s bid for the basic contract, installation of a new field and reconstruction of 2,250 bleacher seats, was $2,959,575.

The public-private project, a partnership of the city and the Gloucester Fishermen Athletic Association, is operating on a roughly $3 million budget, and has already incurred significant costs in architectural and engineering plans. The partners will meet at City Hall Thursday at 10 a.m. to review the specifics in the Heimlich bid document

”The next step,” said Steve Winslow, a senior manager for community development at the Public Health Department, “we must select the lowest ‘qualified’ bidder.”

”Public Health has a stake in the project via the additional use that can be made of Newell Stadium once the artificial turf field in place,” he said.

But Dick Wilson, a founder of the GFAA, called Heimlich “an ideal” contractor for the project.

He said the lowest bid was a bit higher than he hoped, though about what he expected. Wilson also said he thought that the bid price would allow the completion of all the options with the possible exception of the visitors’ bleachers.

Beyond Heimlich’s bid of $2,959,575, the prices bid for the options are as follows: $231,000 for the field lights, $38,000 for the red track around the field, $28,500 for the track lights, $13,500 for the bleacher upgrade, $20,000 for the track jump pit cover and $98,000 for the visitors’ bleachers.

Definitive selection of the contractor for the project will not be made until after a meeting Thursday of the GFAA to review the bids — there were three others, all significantly higher than Heimlich’s — for the field and the options and then

The three higher bidders, David F. White & Sons. Inc., RAD Sports and Quirk Construction each proposed more than $3.2 million for just the field.

Options pushed their bids to between about $3.7 million and $4.0 million. All of the bids were opened at City Hall by Purchasing Agent Donna Compton.

The city put the $3 million stadium reconstruction project out to bid in mid July.

At the minimum, said Winslow, the renewed Newell Stadium will include a new track, synthetic turf field, restrooms and the foundations for stadium lighting.

It will also include new, 2,250 seat home-side bleachers, and the restoration of the existing Newell Stadium gateway off Centennial Avenue. The formal Request for Proposals, or RFP, also calls for installing utilities and removing and testing the current topsoil. Newell Stadium sits on filled-in ground.

In May, City Council approved a $1.65 million loan authorization to pin down the funding for the Newell Stadium reconstruction. Without it, the project wouldn’t have been ready for bidding.

Through the authorization, the city is fronting the cost for the GFAA, which will pay it back as pledges and other fund-raising efforts come through.

The city had already issued a $1.5 million bond for the stadium project, backing up private GFAA fund-praising efforts, a $500,000 grant from New Balance Shoe Co., the athletic apparel company, for field naming rights, and a $500,000 state grant through the Parkland Acquisitions and Renovations for Communities program.

Richard Gaines can be reached at 978-283-7000, x3464, or at rgaines@gloucestertimes.com.