The parking lot at Kenai Central High School is usually quiet during the summer. On Thursday, though, the space was filled with the sound of construction. Foster Construction is improving the parking lot and prepping land for a new concession stand and restroom facility.
In May, the Kenai Peninsula Borough received four bids for construction of that facility. It’s one of 10 projects approved by voters in a $65.5 million bond package in 2022. Bid amounts ranged from $732,959 to $963,011, with the award going to Eberline Building, Inc. — the lowest bidder. The low bid amount is around $230,000 more than was budgeted for in the bond.
Borough assembly member Brent Hibbert took issue with the facility construction price during a committee meeting Tuesday. He said the combined cost of site work, project design and construction will push the total project to more than $1 million. He said he doesn’t even remember the project being part of the bond package.
“I guess my point here is, we're building a 24-by-36-foot building, and 164 square feet, and it's going to cost us almost $1.4 million,” he said. “And I was just wondering, I just don't know how we can continue to pay these exorbitant prices for these buildings.”
The new concession stand is meant to accommodate the growing crowds at the field. Use of the field’s gone up since artificial turf and the track were installed in 2014. It’s long been a priority of the city of Kenai’s.
Borough Mayor Peter Micciche agreed $730,000 is high for the project. But it’s only the latest from 2022 bond initiatives that’s come in over budget. Still, Micciche said the borough is obligated to build the project that voters approved.
“The way that we beat it is we show other ways we're going to bring the cost down,” Micciche said. “And we are really creative about it. Make some time to do that. This is one of the ones on the bond again, that's here we go. That's how we sell a bond, as we promise everybody Christmas kind of stuck. So we've delayed them as we can. We've worked them as hard as we can. Unfortunately, they keep coming in at the same numbers.”
Construction of the concession stand and restroom facility hasn’t started yet. Micciche said Friday that the borough is working to have the facility done by the start of football season.
