THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609270199
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY BILL REED, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: 55 lines
A glitch in the bidding process for the new Oceanfront police and fire stations has delayed construction for a month and prompted city officials to seek a new round of proposals for the project.
New bids will be opened Friday and construction of replacements for the 2nd Police Precinct and the 20th Street Fire Station should begin in early December, said Ralph Smith, director of Public Works.
Eleven bidders submitted base cost estimates earlier this month for building the two projects, which will become part of the Beach Borough Service Center between 17th and 18th streets, five blocks from the resort Oceanfront. Hoy Construction Inc. of Norfolk submitted the apparent low figure of $4.23 million for the job, Smith said, but a notation on the outside of Hoy's bid envelope for a $60,000 addendum brought protests from a competitor.
Hoy's bid was challenged by R.D. Lambert & Son Inc. of Chesapeake, the second lowest bidder, which had submitted a project cost estimate of $4.288 million.
``That left us with some options and we chose to re-advertise,'' said Smith. All original bids were scrapped.
Once new bids are opened Friday, they will be scrutinized by city officials and the job could be awarded shortly afterward. Construction would start two months from the award date, probably early December, Smith said.
This would put the job more than three weeks behind schedule.
Bids on the combined police and fire stations ranged from $4.23 million to $5.2 million, said Edward Wall, a Public Works Department spokesman.
The new structures - a 19,500-square-foot police station and a 16,000-square-foot fire station - will be built on a seven-acre tract abutting the west side of the year-old Virginia Beach Rescue Squad headquarters, which faces 17th Street.
It will all be part of the Beach Borough Services Center, now being assembled between 17th and 18th and Cypress and Washington avenues.
Completion date for the projects is late December 1997.
Yet to be added to the services center are buildings to house the Emergency Medical Services headquarters and a branch office for the city treasurer.
Plans for building a new Oceanfront library branch at the services center remain on hold.
The existing branch at Arctic Avenue and 19th Street is in relatively good condition, city officials believe. It would be retained unless the city decides to sell it, along with the nearby Dome site, to a private developer for commercial use.
The Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad headquarters already occupies 1.4 acres of city-owned property between 17th and 18th streets. It was completed and occupied in October 1995 at a cost of $1.7 million. The sum does not include the land, which was donated by the city.
The city has been trying since 1989 to replace the city services that now are clustered around the 18th and 19th street and Arctic Avenue corridor, which borders the Dome property. by CNB