By Gazette Staff - December 19th 2023
JANESVILLE
The low construction bid for the planned Woodman’s Sports and Convention Center came in about $1.5 million lower than earlier estimates, when bids were opened Tuesday.
The low bid of $38.09 million came from JP Cullen & Sons, Inc., of Janesville, compared to the earlier working estimate from the city of Janesville and Friends of the Woodman’s Center, of $39.66 million.
That estimate was for construction only. With furnishings, fixtures, equipment, contingency and other costs, the total estimate to build the Woodman’s Center has been about $50.3 million. The two-sheet ice arena, sports complex and convention center is proposed to be built at the Uptown Janesville mall on Milton Avenue in Janesville, on the footprint of a shuttered Sears department store that would be torn down.
Bids for the rest of the costs will be likely be taken in mid-2024, city officials said in a release Tuesday.
The Janesville City Council is expected to vote on Jan. 22 to award the construction contract.
Other firms that submitted bids, that were opened at 2 p.m. Tuesday, included Miron Construction Co., that has offices in Neenah and in Madison, and Pepper Construction of Wisconsin, based in Milwaukee.
Miron Construction’s bid was $38.98 million, and Pepper Construction bid $39.46 million.
City officials said the next steps — pending the council’s approval of the JP Cullen bid in January — are getting construction drawings approved and construction-related materials ordered.
In a release Tuesday, City Manager Kevin Lahner called the bid opening “another milestone in the Woodman’s Center project has been reached, and we look forward to analyzing the bids and bringing a construction contract to the City Council on Jan. 22. I commend the professionalism and dedication of our team as this historic project takes another step forward.”