A drive by the school’s softball field provides ample evidence that a $5.25 million project to improve school athletic facilities is well underway.
But work is beginning in other areas as well, with the baseball field now closed down for the summer and improvements in the gymnasium and arena beginning as well.
Earlier this week, school board members got both a brief update and authorized a $95,193 change order related to the arena component of the project, and some cost escalations because of a change in scope and some delays in the bid award.
According to a financial update distributed at the meeting, even with the change order there remains about $484,073 in contingency funds.
Jason Chopp of engineering firm SEH was on hand to address both the progress of the project and the change order.
Chopp noted that the change order was addressed last month and came because of some increases in costs from the time bids were submitted in early-spring to the time the bid was awarded in May.
A 60-day window had elapsed and Chopp said that the general contractor, Max Gray Construction, could have withdrawn its bid.
Instead, the firm chose to honor its bid if the district agreed to the change orders.
About $42,000 in the change order was related to the delay in bid award, while roughly $53,000 was linked to cost to replace a portion of an arena wall, after plans for new arena siding were removed from the project.
“If you remember when we awarded the project and reduced the scope we had already held the contract beyond the 60 days,” said Chopp. “The contractor said ‘yes we will honor the bid with the change in scope but we are requesting some escalator items for fuel and change of quantities based on the scope of work.”
Board members agreed to the change order without objection but there was some concern about some changes in timelines, including one that put the substantial completion date for the gymnasium portion of the project to Aug. 31.
That runs past the Aug. 17 start date for the start of volleyball practice and comes on the same day as the volleyball team’s season- opening game.
Chopp also reported on the various work taken on by contractors since work began in June.
“Things are moving along,” he said. “They’ve started on the structural repairs at the arena and cut out the concrete on the inside and continued to do that work. Some of the rebar on the concrete slab didn’t match the 1970s drawings but things are moving along. The preliminary work has begun in the gymnasium, and the big one that you can really see if you drive by you can’t miss it, is the softball field. The softball field is gone except for the dugouts. And today, they poured the concrete and you can see where the ADA accessible walking path will go from the street to the third base line to home plate and up the first base line. And this week the contractor is supposed to be starting on the baseball field.”
Thanks to action by the Minnesota Legislature, the school has $5.25 million to spend on the improvements, but set-asides for soft costs including payment to SEH as well as a 10 percent contingency leave about $4 million to spend on construction Before the change orders, the board approves spending $3,912,880 on a package recommended by school administrators and the district’s Facilities Committee, and approved by the board in May.
Max Gray Construction submitted a low bid of $6,547,000 for the project, but school officials later trimmed about $2.6 million worth of work to keep the project within budget.
Remaining in the package are various upgrades to the ice arena including structural, accessibility and locker room heating system improvements, as well as:
• Handicap accessibility including a ramp at the football stadium as well as upgrades for track team practices;
• Renovations to the baseball field including leveling and new sod for the playing surface, a paved pavilion and viewing deck on the first base side and new batting cages;
• A full overhaul of the softball field including a new playing surface, and scoreboard and bleacher replacement;
• Gymnasium upgrades including plaster repair and an acoustic ceiling;
• A new building between the baseball and softball facilities that will include restrooms and a joint concession stand.
Numerous other items were taken out of the project, including $1.1 million for the arena shell, downspouts and gutters, and better than $600,000 for football grandstand and field work.
Given tight budget constraints, board members have indicated that there’s no wiggle room and that the project must stay within the $5.25 million budget.
In late-2024, SEH conducted an athletic facilities needs assessment that identified over $15 million in potential or recommended improvements to Ely school athletic facilities.
But at least for now, the district only has $5.25 million in available funds to address those proposals.
