BURR RIDGE, IL – Burr Ridge spent more than half a million dollars on the Village Hall architect that it ultimately terminated because of a bid fiasco.
The bills totaled $553,000 over nearly two years, according to village records.
The low bid ended up being more than $5 million over Legat Architects' estimate of $8.5 million. Many bids were $15 million to $17 million.
This week, the village ousted the architect, with officials suggesting the firm misled the village on costs.
Legat has not returned a message for comment.
Through a public records request, Patch obtained correspondence between the village and the firm after the Sept. 24 bid opening.
Five days after the opening, Village Administrator Evan Walter asked architect Evan Menk of Legat to pause all work on the Village Hall project, effective immediately.
"(D)o not bill any additional time until further notice," Walter said.
A week and a half later, Menk said that before the pause, his firm had prepared an analysis of cost reduction strategies. He said he wanted to share those.
On Oct. 20, Burr Ridge announced to the public that it planned to reject all bids.
A couple of days later, Rob Wroble, a principal with Legat, thanked Walter for meeting with him at Legat's Oak Brook headquarters.
"Although the culmination wasn't as I'd hoped, I appreciated the frank conversation," Wroble said.
That was four days before the termination.
In response to a Patch inquiry Thursday, Mayor Gary Grasso said the "frank" discussion occurred when the village made clear it was terminating the agreement.
In all of Legat's presentations, the firm never suggested that the bids would far exceed the estimate.
"We planned for $8.5M and even penciled an additional $500,000 for possible additional detention requirements of Cook County," Grasso said in an email. "But eight figures was never on the horizon, let alone where the bids landed."
At Monday's Village Board meeting, Grasso noted the divergence in the estimate and bids.
About Legat, he said, "I find it hard to believe that they didn't see it coming."
Trustee Anita Mital said she believed the firm misled Burr Ridge.
The village appears to have dropped its plan to build a Village Hall attached to the police station.
Officials say they are reviewing their options.
In June, employees moved out of Village Hall on County Line Road to the public works department on Commerce Street. Walter suggested that could be a long-term arrangement.
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