The Superior School Board last week approved about $17.8 million in bids for the Cooper Elementary School building project slated to begin in April.
The final cost for the project - including all fees and about $2.1 million approved last year for site work and demolition - comes to $23.6 million.
"We stayed within the budget," said Patrick Gallagher, project manager for Kraus-Anderson. "This was a really good time to bid."
Bids for prep work and demolition came in under budget in late November, and Gallagher said the most recent bids for construction of the new school also were favorable.
The Cooper project was carrying a 10 percent contingency within its budget estimate, but that will drop to 6.6 percent.
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Gallagher said it is typical to lower contingency rates as projects progress and risks decrease. Most projects begin with a 10 percent contingency and drop to 5 percent, he said.
Kraus-Anderson currently has a 10 percent contingency written into the Superior High School building and renovation project. That budget is tighter, Gallagher said, but he feels comfortable with how figures are progressing.
"We really are watching the high school to make sure we don't overshoot that budget," Gallagher said. "We've been working well with (architectural firm) LHB, and we're pretty confident we're going to make this work."
For the Cooper project, many of the bids approved last week went to local companies, with 17 of the 36 total contracts awarded to Duluth companies.
Six contracts totaled more than $1 million, and three of those went to Duluth-based companies. The other three went to companies based in Grand Rapids, International Falls and Bemidji in Minnesota.
Janna Stevens, Superior school district administrator, said she was pleased work will remain in the Twin Ports, but she had hoped for a larger hometown presence in the bidding process.
"You always hope to see it say Superior, Wis.," Stevens said. Few Superior-based companies, however, bid on the Cooper project.
Of the 36 contracts awarded, only five had bids from Superior companies.
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"The high school is coming up, so we're thinking maybe they're holding out for the biggest project of all," Stevens said.
A request for bids on the Superior High School project is expected in late February or early March. Groundbreaking for both the Cooper and high school projects is slated for April.
