Price as expected but apparent lack of interest surrises county officials.
Demolition of the Palace/Wayne Hotel inched closer to a start date this week with the Polk County Commissioners opening bids for the project on Tuesday. Dollar-wise, the bids came in at around what was roughly projected, but officials were a bit taken aback at the number of bids received.
“We were a little surprised that only four bids came in – two of them were delivered after the deadline and had to be returned,” said County Coordinator Jack Schmalenberg. “Out of 14 to 16 plan holders, though, we thought there might be another one or two participating.”
Industrial Builders, Inc. of Fargo was the low bidder with $339,669. Spruce Valley Corporation of Middle River bid $405,875. Schmalenberg said the last estimate for the demo project, around $250,000, was done a few years ago, so it was assumed the new price-tag would be in the area of $400,000.
Demolition is expected to take place later this fall, but no start date has been set.
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