Bids come in higher than expected for Greene Square Park makeover

CEDAR RAPIDS - Greene Square Park's $2 million transformation into Greene Square downtown has hit a snag.

Bids for construction have exceeded the project engineer's preconstruction estimate by nearly $200,000, Sven Leff, the city's parks and recreation director, reported to the City Council on Tuesday.

The estimate of cost was put at $1.57 million, and the lowest of three bids - submitted by Unzeitig Construction Co. of Cedar Rapids - came in at $1.738 million.

Leff said the city asked each contractor to bid on two extras for the project, with the idea that the base bids might come in sufficiently low enough to make the extras affordable.

Leff said the first extra, which will replace the perimeter sidewalks in the block-square park, is important to the project. Low bidder Unzeitig Construction Co. put the cost of that extra at an additional $178,000.

A second extra bid, which Leff said would provide more amenities to the project, came in at another $43,000.

Leff told the City Council that he needed time to either find additional money for the project or see if changes in the concept needed to be made. He plans to report back to the council at its meeting Feb. 24.

The project has an estimated total cost of $2 million with preconstruction design costs and the cost for a piece of sculpture. It is being funded by both private donations and public dollars. The city had figured its costs at $650,000, and the Linn County Board of Supervisors said it would spend up to $250,000 for a piece of art for the project.

Leff said he needed to 'reach out to our partners” to see if they can help close the funding gap.

Work on the park's transformation is expected to take place this year.

Two other bidders for the project, Kleiman Construction Inc. of Cedar Rapids and Tricon General Construction of Dubuque, submitted base bids of $1.761 million and $1.78 million, respectively. Both also submitted higher bids for the project's first extra than the apparent low bidder Unzeitig Construction Co.