In April, those involved in the planning and future of the Jones Library were upbeat about the project and its $46.1 million price tag.
A temporary home on University Drive was announced and the final tours of the building dating back to 1928 were being held.
Work to get the funds included the town council increasing the project's borrowing cap in December as well as a referendum in 2021. Funding includes $16 million from the town, as well as state, federal and private sources — all to renovate, expand, and refurbish the complex, while preserving much of its history.
At one point, all that was left was to wait for general contractors to submit their bids for the work.
Except — only one arrived and it was way beyond what officials were expecting.
"So, as you all know, we received one bid from – what went out to bid. It was significantly over budget by 18% - I have rejected that bid,” Amherst Town Manager Paul Bockelman announced during a Jones Library Building Committee meeting on Tuesday, May 21. “And so, there is no bid on the project at this point in time."
Bockelman detailed how the bid - made by the Fontaine Brothers construction company – was rejected, a move the library’s Board of Trustees voted for and approved in mid-May.
The bid Fontaine submitted was at least $7 million more than what officials were expecting, setting off a series of meetings to try and figure out what went wrong and what could be done to move forward with the project.
The trustees have also voted to ask for a six-month funding deadline extension with the Massachusetts Board of Library Commissioners (MBLC).
The Jones Library project is the recipient of a $13.8 million grant from the MBLC, but also has a deadline to have a general contractor in place by June 30.
While trustees and members of the Jones Library Building Committee await the MBLC’s response, the members have been exploring ways to fill a gap based on the Fontaine bid.
Austin Sarat, president of the board of trustees, said as much during a building committee meeting Tuesday.
Sarat and others spent an hour weighing the pros and cons of redesigning the library’s initial redesign plan – a process that could save millions, but also cost nearly a million in redesign expenses in the process.
“We're looking to close a $7 million gap between the one bid that we got and what our budget is,” Sarat said, speaking directly to staff with the architect firm, Finegold Alexander Architects (FAA). “What you're offering here is - maybe $3 million in savings and an investment of maybe $800,000 - so, let's say a savings of a couple of million dollars. But, I want you to say, again, what we have said before, which is - if we were to invest in this redesign and save, let's say, net, a couple million dollars - we're doing that, because our hope is that when we go out to rebid and attract more competitive bids, this will make a significant difference in terms of what we get back.”
In search of savings, the architect firm outlined possibly ditching the re-installation of historic woodwork in the library while renovating, save for the woodwork involving the main staircase. That alone could save an estimated $1 million.
Another big saver — switching to steel over wood for some facets of the project, including wood columns — which could net $500,000.
Ditching synthetic slate shingles in favor of asphalt would appear to save over $200,000, too.
However, such changes raised concerns for Board of Trustees treasurer Bob Pam, who spoke during the public comment section.
Pam raised the possibility that some of the changes might put the project at risk for losing out on important tax credits.
“If you start talking about replacing the woodwork and replacing the shingles with asphalt, then you are probably talking about eliminating the possibility of getting a historic tax credit, which is valued at anything from a million to $2 million - it's hard to tell exactly,” Pam said. “ So, just recognize that if you save $2 million on construction and reduce the amount of money available to pay for it, you're not actually making any savings.”
The observation, as well as other feedback from Pam, did not lead to much discussion. While calling the comments helpful, Sarat said the feedback was technically not suited for that meeting in particular.
The Jones Library situation is expected to come up and be discussed during the next Amherst town council meeting on June 3 at 6:30 p.m.
