Designs Scaled Back as Waukee Rejects Library Bids, Another Round Set

Some design changes have been made to the planned Waukee Public Library addition after bids came in over budget and were rejected this week by city officials, the Des Moines Register reports.

The 1,900-square-foot expansion will include a meeting room and coal mining museum. While officials had expected the work to be complete by summer, the rejection of bids pushes back the opening until October.

An architect’s plan called for high vaulted ceilings with wood beams to be constructed, but bids received to carry out that work were over cost estimates, the Register said.

who died in October 2010. He left a bequest to honor his parents, and those associated with the Shuler Mine, which employed many Waukee residents in the early 1900s.

Ori, 87 at the time of his death, left at least half a million dollars to the library in his will.

"They specified that we build a meeting room in honor of his parents," Library Director Eric Surber said in 2011. "I think he wanted to honor not only his parents, but also the immigrant community in general."

Surber said Ori and his family lived in Waukee and worked in the Shuler Mine, which operated in the first half of the 1900s. The money Ori willed to the library — expected to be between $500,000 and $700,000 — was designated as a way to honor his parents, Ernest and Casimira Ori, Italian immigrants who lived in Waukee until their deaths in 1974 and 1982, respectively.

Interim city administrator Brad Deets told the Register the low bid for the library project was received from Larson Construction at a cost of about $620,000. An engineer’s estimate had previously put costs at around $520,000,.

Feb. 26 is the new deadline for contractors to submit bids. The Waukee council is expected to hire a contractor at its March 4 meeting.