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AUBURN, Mass. – The Auburn High School press box project gained momentum Friday as eight contractors showed up for a pre-bid meeting at the high school.
The previous pre-bid meeting drew only two contractors, which was followed by a rejected bid. Having eight contractors at Friday’s meeting left the Cable Committee confident the project will get an approved bid later this month.
“We’re very encouraged with the number of contractors who came out,” said Joe Hamel, a committee member. “Plus, there are some contractors who didn’t show up today who will rebid. So we’re getting closer and closer to getting this done.
“This time we look we’re going to hit a home run,” Hamel continued. “It looks like we’ll get some legitimate bids. These are all good contractors, so they know what they’re doing.”
Showing up at the meeting were eight general contractors — Poulin & Sons Construction of Sterling, Stutman Contracting of Oxford; Quality Contracting of Worcester; Antonelli Construction of Worcester; Contractor Solutions of Shrewsbury; R.H. White Construction of Auburn; F.W. Madigan of Worcester; and Elliott Construction Services of Webster.
The bid opening will take place at 2 p.m. Aug. 15 at 5 West St.
Following the first pre-bid meeting, Lange Design and Development submitted a bid that was rejected at the July 18 opening for not having the required documents.
On Friday, Superintendent of Schools Maryellen Brunelle gave the eight contractors a checklist of all the required documents so the same issue won’t happen again.
“I’m an eternal optimist, and I’m certain that we will get a successful bidder,” Brunelle said. “We believe the press box will be the finishing touch on a true state-of-the-art athletic complex.”
Hamel said the Cable Committee is pleased with how much effort Brunelle is putting into the project.
“She’s taken a very dramatic step on getting this project finished,” Hamel said. “We can’t thank her enough.”
Plans call for an 8-by-24-foot press box with wings on either side for camera platforms, in addition to a cupola similar to the one on the old high school. The Cable Committee, which has budgeted $70,000 for the project, recently compromised with Brunelle on an Oct. 12 completion date for the project.
If the press box is built by Oct. 12, the local cable company will be able to use it to broadcast four home football games this year. Those games will be played Oct. 13 against Leicester, Oct. 26 versus Grafton, Nov. 2 against Northbridge and Nov. 9 against Westborough.
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