FAYETTEVILLE -- City and Walton Arts Center officials during the next month plan to negotiate a contract for improvement to the center on Dickson Street.
Eight firms submitted qualifications for the job by a 2 p.m. deadline Friday.
At A Glance
The Hopefuls
Eight companies submitted statements of qualification for construction management services for expanding and renovating the Walton Arts Center.
• Baldwin & Shell Construction
• CDI Contractors
• Clark Contractors
• The Cone Group
• East Harding
• Flintco
• Milestone Construction
• Nabholz Construction Services
Source: City Of Fayetteville
The firms all have extensive experience with commercial and cultural building projects in Arkansas.
Baldwin & Shell Construction is managing the municipal parking deck project on the south end of the center's property.
CDI Contractors is overseeing renovation to Little Rock's Robinson Center Music Hall.
Nabholz Construction Services partnered with the Linbeck Group of Houston to build Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville.
And Flintco was part of a joint venture that built the Bank of Oklahoma Center in Tulsa, Okla.
A selection committee of four arts center representatives and four city officials will rank the companies that bid and negotiate a contract.
The contract requires City Council approval because the project is being paid for in part using money from an $6.9 million bond issue voters approved Nov. 12.
According to Terri Trotter, the center's chief operating officer, the construction budget for the project is $16.5 million. The bulk of the money is expected to come from individual and corporate donations and foundation support.
The City Council is expected to award a construction management contract April 1, but that will depend on successful negotiation with the firm the selection committee recommends.
The project includes a larger lobby, expanded Starr Theater, more backstage space and new administrative offices.
Trotter said she expects construction to begin this summer and take two to two-and-a-half years to complete.
Construction costs will not be made public until a contract has been recommended to the City Council.
The committee will consider firms' qualifications, competence and past performance, not project cost, said Andrea Foren, purchasing agent for the city.
"We're looking for a firm that has done this kind of work before," Trotter said.
The City Council in December 2012 agreed to pay "reasonable rent and moving expenses" for temporary administrative offices while the center is under construction, because the municipal parking deck is being built where the offices are located.
Jeremy Pate, one of two city officials overseeing the parking deck project, said a separate selection committee has recommended leasing space in the Metro District Building, 509 W. Spring St., where The Wine Cellar is located. The lease hasn't yet been scheduled for council review.
Pate told council members last month the city plans to move about 30 arts center employees to the temporary offices in June.
NW News on 02/22/2014