By ANGIE BERGSTROM
The bid to reconstruct the old Brigham Young Academy Education Building into a new Provo library was announced at the Library Oversight Construction Committee meeting May 13. The bid came in within the budget perimeters.
Jacobsen Construction Company, the company in charge of the library renovation, announced the final bid of $17,500,000 for the outdoor construction.
The city has allotted over $22 million to rebuild the library. The money comes from a bond from voters who gave $16,800,000 and from donations which total around $5 million, said Allen Dewitt, who is on the library oversight committee.
Mayor Lewis Billings said he is pleased the renovation is on the right track.
“It’s been a very complex and wonderfully challenging project,” Billings said. “It looks like it does have a favorable outcome and it will be up to the council to decide based on where its at and what’s happened if they want to go for it.”
The final decision will be made May 18 at 7 p.m. at the city council meeting. Jacobsen Construction will make the presentation to the city council.
“We were very pleased with the work that the contractors have done in terms of making sure that the library will come in the guaranteed maximum price. We’re just really delighted in that,” said city council member Paul Warner.
If approved by the council, the new library construction will begin around June 22. Officials said the finishing date will be in 2000.
Jacobsen Construction has been preparing the final bid for months. The company has been working with other contractors who specialize in areas such as ceilings or bricklaying to put together total cost of the final project.
There were 63 bids from a number of construction companies throughout the Provo area, Billings said.
Though Jacobsen has announced the total construction budget as a lower cost than is allotted by the city, the remaining funds are necessary for the indoor and decorating materials, Dewitt said.
No more money, however, will be given for the outdoor construction besides the projected cost by Jacobsen.
The decision on what to do with the present Provo library, 425 W. Center, has not been decided.
The Brigham Young Academy Education Building, located on University Avenue, has been rated by the National Historical Register as one of the most important buildings west of the Mississippi River not restored.
Originally, there were four Brigham Young Academy buildings. All four were bought by the city in 1994. The other three were torn down, but the Education Building was left standing to see if renovation could take place.
The Education Building has been empty since 1975.
