The City of Atlantic’s Parks and Recreation Board of Directors, Thursday, approved a bid from a local contractor for the construction of the department’s new office and maintenance building at Sunnyside Park. Tim Teig, from Snyder and Associates Engineers in Atlantic, said two of the three base bids they received and reviewed earlier that afternoon, were within $4,000 of each other, while the third was about $40,000 higher than the lowest bid. All of the bids were higher than the engineer’s estimated base bid of $221,500, and all included alternate additions that could be tacked-on to the base bid. Both Teig, and Parks and Rec Director Roger Herring recommended the Board approve the base bid of $244,762. Herring said Iron Specialties, of Atlantic, was the low bidder. Following the bid letting, Herring and Teig sat down with City Administrator Doug Harris, and determined it was within the budget to accept the base bid and alternate additions 1 and 2.”

The additions, which add nearly $46,000 to the base bid,  include the finishing of the exterior and an entrance canopy, which are the two highest priorities. Herring said the idea to have the exterior finished instead of just having a plain metal shell, was so that the building would fit in with the park environment, and not be an eyesore from the road.

The Parks and Rec Board agreed, and requested Teig and Herring look into adding one garage door opener to supplement the otherwise manually operated doors for the building. That matter will be discussed with the contractor when the contract is awarded. The City Council has the final say on whether the recommended bid will be awarded, during their regularly scheduled meeting on April 3^rd. The other two bids for the project came from Henningsen Construction, of Atlantic, and Jensen Builders, in Ft. Dodge.

In other business, Herring said the Sunnyside tennis court reconstruction project will likely be finished ahead of schedule. He said it was originally thought the project wouldn’t be finished until August 31^st. Now it appears that, weather permitting, it should be done by the end of July. That means, according to Herring, that a Youth Tennis Tournament may be possible at the end of Summer, as well as a Fall Adult Co-ed Tennis League, along with a grand opening and US Tennis Association presentation.