Mifflinburg Area seeks new bids after...

MIFFLINBURG — The architecture firm tasked with Mifflinburg Area School District's Wildcat Athletic Complex and stadium project will seek updated bids for the entry building within the next few weeks.Nathan Moyer and Randy Galiotto, of Alloy5, presented two new options to school board members at Tuesday night's public meeting, prompted by bids in April being nearly $4 million over estimates. The groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held on May 4."Alloy5 and the Mifflinburg team have worked diligently to explore all options to get the bids back out to the streets to get started with the construction as phase 1 is already on the way," Moyer said. "We made this a No. 1 priority, and we're going to be sending out the documents to the bidders in the upcoming weeks. We're finalizing all details right now and writing all the specs."When the original bids came back, Moyer said everyone was "shocked." They reached out to the contractors to understand the source of the discrepancies.Moyer said there were overlaps in the electrical work between phases. He also said the firm worked on bringing some of the costs down on a base bid and an alternate bid.The new designs have fewer plumbing fixtures, one less changing room and a reduction of approximately 600 square feet. The outside of the building will have simplified exterior walls and a smaller canopy at the entranceway, Moyer said.The alternate option is a pre-engineered building structure with reduced toilet fixtures. The building is smaller and eliminates the canopy, Moyer said.Alloy5 does not have updated costs for the new plans.This phase of the project includes an entranceway, ticketing, concessions and restrooms. The district originally expected bids to range from $800,000 to $1 million, officials said.The first part of Phase 1 includes 855 bleacher seats, a press box, lighting, a synthetic track, a turf field, a stadium roadway, gravel parking in the main lot, paved ADA parking, paved entry and field surround, stadium perimeter fencing, a gravel ambulance drive, infrastructure for the entry building, field and jumping event areas, a scoreboard, site work, bus garage line striping, a flagpole, conduit lines for power, network, data, Wi-Fi and AV, and sleeves in the turf for ball stoppers and goal posts.The second part of Phase 1 includes a design-bid-build process for ticket offices, concessions, permanent restrooms, an officials’ locker room, an entry canopy, a donor wall, a wall of fame, a buy-a-brick paver entry and a sound system.The board members also approved the site lighting in the parking lot and road for the stadium project to be moved to phase 1 at a cost of $64,287. They also approved a change order for electrical work in the amount of $398,686 for the stadium project with Keystone Construction.Superintendent Dr. Ken Dady said a majority of the costs will be covered by donations and a grant.