Joliet To Spend $1 Million For Ottawa Street Parking Garage Upgrades, Chicago Company Picked

JOLIET, IL — At Tuesday night's meeting, Joliet's Director of Public Works Greg Ruddy will urge the Joliet City Council to approve a contract of $1,027,136 to Chicago's Staalsen Construction Company for improvements to the city-owned Ottawa Street Parking Garage.

Planned improvements involve HVAC upgrades, installation of Genetec Access Control, and new electrical and fiber connections extending into City Square through conduit previously installed by the City Square contractor. A new ComEd electrical service will also be installed from a nearby transformer, Ruddy's memo outlined.

Ruddy's memo to the Council indicates that Joliet's new City Square Project is his reasoning for spending another $1 million in taxpayer funds.

"Construction is underway on the City Square project. To support the new facility, several modifications are required at the adjacent Ottawa Street Parking Garage. These include building an electrical room, IT room, equipment garage, and storage rooms within the deck, as well as adding a salt storage shed next to the structure," Ruddy's memo reads.

Ruddy explained that the city of Joliet opened up four sealed bids for the Joliet City Square-Ottawa Street Parking Garage Building Modifications on Jan. 29 and the bids were as follows:

• Staalsen Construction $1,027,136
• Paul Borg Construction $1,097,000
• Lindblad Const Co. of Joliet Inc. $1,248,500
• Berglund Construction $1,298,000

City of Joliet Engineer’s Estimate $1,600,000

According to its website, Staalsen Construction Company was founded by Henry Staalsen in 1940 as a general contractor specializing in concrete, masonry and carpentry. It's located on Cicero Avenue.

"Based on the above, it is recommended that the Mayor and City Council award the Contract for the Joliet City Square -Ottawa Street Parking Garage Building Modifications, in the amount of $1,027,136.00, on behalf of Staalsen Construction," Ruddy's memo recommends.