Contract awarded for train depot restoration

Other bids opened by the Tourism Committee included:

* Braonon O. Williams Construction of Cape Girardeau, $248,120;

* Knuckles Brothers, Inc. of Poplar Bluff, $249,900;

* C.A. Walker Construction of Dexter, $257,000; and

* Allison Construction of Poplar Bluff, $292,802.

The total cost of the project was put at $257,947 by Dille and Traxel, LLC Architects in Poplar Bluff, the engineering firm for the project. This includes fees for the environmental inspection and abatementt, and, architectural and engineering inspection, and design fees and asbestos removal. These funds total $45,850 above the construction contract.

The city had received a commitment for funding totaling $277,600. This includes a transportation enhancement grant of $196,000 from the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), $15,000 from the city in in-kind labor and $66,600 to be paid from the tourism tax fund in the city, which is under the Tourism Committee. The current project will not require the full $66,600 from the tourism tax.

Mark Stidham, city administrator, said everyone involved with the project was glad to see the project come in within the budget this time. The project was put up for bids in October 2008 but all the bids were above the revenues available for the project. The Tourism Committee in conjunction with the city scaled back some of the planned renovations.

Benjamin F. Traxel, AIA, project architect, said the overall economy has made construction companies lower their bids in recent months. He also cited the elimination of a proposed fence around the depot, material changes and adjustments and a reduction in some of the site preparation work as reasons that the bids were lower this year.

"While the overall aesthetic appearance of the building has not been sacrificed, several of the building materials have been adjusted. In places, a drywall skim coat was accepted in lieu of original wet plaster, the tile flooring in the main lobby was eliminated, and the brick pavers on the exterior are being repaired in places in lieu of all being taken up and reset," Traxel wrote to Stidham and Alderman Jerry Corder, Tourism Committee chairman.

The Tourism Committee met Thursday night to give final approval to the project. Normally, the committee would have met first and then brought the issue to the board of aldermen for approval. Stidham said because the project has been in the planning stages so long and everyone was ready to get the project underway, the committee agreed that getting the required ordinance passed at the July 6 meeting was better than waiting for the next meeting on July 20.

The city will need final approval from MoDOT before construction can get underway. Stidham said he anticipates the city will sign the contract with Chas. Hampton and Son sometime next week so that the renovations can begin.

The Dexter Tourism Committee consists of Chairman Corder, Stidham, Coleman, Sherm Smith. Jr., Ken L. Minton, Jr., Toni Brown, Steve Duke, Joni Burleson, Kenny Patel and Gina Heath.