Allegheny Valley approves $1.2M bids for lobby amid price concerns

Allegheny Valley School Board members unanimously awarded $1.2 million in higher-than-expected bids for lobby renovations at Springdale Jr.-Sr. High School.

Between the four bids, the price was about $180,000 more than the board had initially anticipated, board President Nino Pollino said.

Terry Thompson, vice president of Foreman Architects Engineers, said it had been “very difficult” to find willing bidders for the work. The school board retained Thompson’s firm to develop plans for larger improvement projects at the school.

Ultimately, four local companies bid on the contracts, though some parts of the project only attracted one bidder.

Homestead-based Franjo Construction Corp. will perform general construction work for $823,500; Avalon-based First American Industries will take care of HVAC duties for about $104,000; O’Hara-based S&T Plumbing LLC will handle plumbing for $97,000; and Pittsburgh-based Sargent Electric will manage electrical tasks for a little over $210,000.

The work will center around the school’s auditorium entrance and lobby.

The main task there is the construction of larger restrooms to accommodate several people at once, as well as a separate one for use by one person at a time. The restrooms, which will be to the left of the lobby entrance, will be wheelchair accessible, a feature they currently lack.

Thompson previously said the restrooms would occupy about 25% of the current lobby space.

Thompson said he was “a little surprised” by the bid amounts, especially the electrical cost. He said he received notice from contractors that recent costs related to tariffs may be partially to blame.

But Pollino said the district’s initial estimates might have simply been too low. Contractors may also have been wary of the project’s modest size and potentially challenging electrical work, he said.

“Sometimes you eat the bear; sometimes the bear eats you,” Pollino said.

Concerned about potential market volatility, school board member Larry Pollick suggested pushing the project off a year.

But several other board members, including Pollino and Amy Sarno, pushed back on that idea, citing the potential for even greater uncertainty in a year’s time.

“It is what it is, and it could be a lot worse a year from now,” Sarno said.

The board awarded a $513,000 contract to Mt. Pleasant-based Arch Masonry for repairs to the exterior of the high school’s “D” wing at its meeting last week as part of the same renovation project.

The repairs will address the separation of large precast concrete façade panels that have crumbled since they were installed in 2012.

As for the interior, Thompson said the work should be substantially completed by the end of the year. The lobby would be open by November, he said.