$1 million separates high and low bids on $1.2 million hospital demolition job.
The demolition of the abandoned Phenix Regional Hospital will cost Phenix City more than $800,000, but city leaders say that price tag is far less than anticipated.
The Phenix City Council on Tuesday accepted a low bid of $827,600 from Dore & Associates Contracting, a demolition contractor based in Bay City, Mich., to tear down the contaminated structure. That offer was more than $1 million less than the highest bid from a company in Marietta, Ga., officials said. The bid also includes the removal of asbestos that has been found in the hospital.
“This bid is $400,000 less than what the architects had anticipated,” said City Councilman Jimmy Wetzel, attributing the difference to the ailing economy and the experience of the company.
D.H. Griffin Wrecking Co. of Phenix City submitted an unsuccessful bid of $1.044 million.
The hospital, which also had been known as Cobb Memorial Hospital, has become a liability for the city in recent years, attracting vagrants and vandals and an increasing amount of negative publicity. The city purchased the hospital and some adjacent property and plans to begin construction of a multimillion-dollar municipal complex after the hospital has been cleared away.
Council’s unanimous vote Tuesday paved the way for the city to ink a contract calling for completion of the demolition within 180 days. “I would think they would be started in not more than 30 days,” Wetzel said.
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