After bids for a renovation project at Galena Middle School came in well above budget, district officials have tweaked project plans and plan to review a second round of bids later this month. Superintendent Tim Vincent said the district set an estimated total cost of $15 million for the project, with construction costs accounting for $13.2 million. A report says the project will add 45,000 square feet to the middle school and renovate the 44,000 square feet within the current footprint, and the completed facility will house the district’s pre-K through eighth-grade students. However, the lowest of the three bids that the district received for construction was $19.2 million. Vincent said district officials and architects attribute the high price tag to inflation, supply-chain issues and labor shortages triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. So, school board members voted to reject all bids and put out a “scaled-back” version of the project for a second round of bids.
