'Surprising' Bid Results At LTHS

LA GRANGE, IL – These days, bids for major building projects often end up higher than expected.

For Lyons Township High School, the reverse happened last week. In one case, the low bid beat the project estimate by more than $1 million.

The school had expected the replacement of air handling units at the North and South campuses to cost $3.5 million to $4 million.

Instead, the bids ranged from $2.3 million to $3 million. Glendale Heights-based Voris Mechanical, which came in lowest, won the contract.

With the project, the school aims to replace the air handling units for South Campus' J-Wing and North Campus' library and LTTV station. J-Wing is set to get air conditioning for the first time, officials said.

The project is scheduled for next summer, but may not be completed until the following year. That's because it may take the units 40 to 50 weeks to be delivered, Brian Stachacz, director of business services, told the school board this week.

To install the units, the school would need to disconnect buildings' heating for a time, which officials want to avoid during the fall. So work on the outside units may have to wait until the following spring or summer, Stachacz said.

The other project with lower-than-expected bids was a roof replacement at North Campus.

Harvey-based Knickerbocker Roofing came in lowest at $680,000. The project had been estimated to cost $1 million. It is slated to get done next summer.

The school went out for bids a couple of months earlier than usual – on the advice of its architects – which may have contributed to the lower prices, Stachacz said.

Board member Jill Grech asked for other reasons behind the gap.

Stachacz responded, "Welcome to bidding in 2022."

He said officials used to have a good handle on where bids may come in, but labor and supply chain issues changed that.

Board members liked what they saw.

"I was pretty pleased that it was below what we thought it might come in at," board President Kari Dillon said.

"In this particular economy, it is surprising, pleasantly surprising," Stachacz said.