Board approves bids for renovations of NHS

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This architectural drawing depicts the front of Naugatuck High School after the renovation project. -CONTRIBUTED
This architectural drawing depicts the front of Naugatuck High School after the renovation project. -CONTRIBUTED

NAUGATUCK — The $81 million Naugatuck High School renovation project took another step towards groundbreaking as the Board of Mayor and Burgesses approved 14 bids for the project Tuesday night.

Fourteen different companies received the bids, which totaled nearly $54 million and ranged in price from $285,000 to $9.2 million.

O&G Industries, Inc., which is the project manager, provided the borough with a list of companies who they had worked with in the past, O&G preconstruction manager Lorel Purcell said.

Those companies were contacted, given the bid specifications, and asked to make a bid. Thirteen of the components received multiple bids, with only one bidder responding to the new elevator.

Once the bid proposals were received, Kaestle Boos Associates and O&G brought in the lowest, and sometimes second lowest, bidders to make sure they would understand what the scope of the work would be and that they could meet all of the requirements Burgess Robert Neth, who chairs the Naugatuck High School Building Committee, said.

“We are extremely happy with how the process is going, and we are extremely happy and excited about the numbers we have right now,” Neth said.

Neth said the project is approximately $3 million under what it expected to be at this time. He said there are still six more components that have to go out to bid, including roofing, flooring, and acoustical work for the auditorium, but he does not expect them to bring the committee over budget.

“Our initial goal is to stay under budget,” Neth said.

Since the bids came in at lower than expected the committee decided to move forward with some alternatives including bullet-resistant glass in the front lobby of the school, he said.

“We as a committee, after looking at all the numbers decided, okay, it’s nice, these alternatives could enhance the project greatly,” Neth said.

The Mather Corporation, based in Bloomfield, was awarded the bid to do the site work at the school, which includes all of the athletic fields, for $9.2 million. The bid includes fencing, backstops for the baseball and softball fields, a press box for the baseball and softball fields and portable bleachers.

Action Air Systems, based in Manchester, will upgrade the heating, ventilation and air conditioning for $9.1 million. The entire building will now be air-conditioned, instead of just the main offices, architect Firdos Khericha said. The Board of Education had pushed for the entire building to be air-conditioned if possible.

The electrical bid went to All-Brite Electric, based in West Haven, for $7.3 million. That amount includes an emergency generator for the boilers, fire alarm, kitchen and other life safety necessities, Khericha said. Borough officials have wanted a generator for the high school since widespread power outages caused by hurricanes and snowstorms have left them casting around for emergency shelter space.

All the approvals went to the lowest bidder except in two cases, Neth said.

The bid for structural steel and other metals went to Shepard Steel Co., based in Hartford, for about $3.1 million. Another company had bid $2.7 million, but withdrew their bid after they realized they had not included lead abatement in their proposal, Purcell said.

The bid for aluminum windows and entrances went to Cherry Hill Glass Company, based in Branford, for $3.2 million. A company that bid $2.8 million was disqualified because it was not able to demonstrate they had ever done project involving a 200,000 square-foot occupied space, which was one of the minimum bid requirements, Purcell said.

The groundbreaking for the project is currently set for April 2 at 10 a.m.

The Republican American contributed to this article.