Linn courthouse bids meet budget

Remodeling the Linn County courthouse should cost about what planners expected, county supervisors learned this morning.

Supervisors opened three bids on the project, which carries an estimated $8 million pricetag. The general contract was expected to run about $6.5 million, according to Garth Fagerbakke, the county's construction manager.

Unzeitig Construction is the apparent low bidder, at $6,283,600. Bush Construction of Davenport bid $6,465,700, and Kleiman Construction, also of Cedar Rapids, posted a $6,581,552 bid.

No one appeared at the public hearing on the project, which includes a major reworking of the courthouse's lower level and slightly less extensive work on the other floors, a third-floor skywalk to the adjacent county jail, and improved access to the main entrance for wheelchair users.

The bids will be reviewed by the project's architect and engineers before the lowest is formall accepted. Work is set to begin this winter.

The courthouse work is the county's last flood-related project. All the work – the new juvenile justice center, the rebuilt administrative offices, and the new Options-community service center, are being done by local contractors under project labor agreements.