Nearly 800 pages of written specifications and 100 pages of architectural drawings make up the first bid pack for a proposed new courthouse and jail housing unit for Shawano County.
The documents can be viewed on the county website https://www.co.shawano.wi.us, and builders have until 2 p.m. Sept. 30 to provide sealed bids for the work.
“We’ve actually received quite a bit of interest from contractors, which is good,” said Kurt Berner, of The Samuels Group.
A pre-bid meeting was held Sept. 10. Potential bidders were encouraged but not required to attend.
“It allows the bidders to come on site,” Berner said. “We’ll explain to them the bid process.”
Potential bidders also had a chance to tour the future construction site.
The $121 million project includes constructing and equipping a new courthouse, a secure connection to the existing jail, a vehicle sally port, jail intake and support areas and a new inmate housing unit, as well as acquiring land and related furnishings, fixtures and equipment.
This first bid pack is for broad categories such as building demolition, footings, foundations, flatwork, sitework, precast concrete, masonry, metals and steel, detention equipment, electric traction elevators, HVAC long lead equipment, electrical long lead equipment, earthwork, and utilities.
“After that pre-bid meeting, we allow them some time to send questions in,” Berner said. “We will publish those questions (and answers) in a pre-bid addendum.”
There will be a public bid opening at 2:10 p.m. Sept. 30 in the courthouse.
All names of contractors, the bid category and the bid amount will be read aloud.
The Samuels Group will then conduct a bid qualification to ensure the bidders meet all of the requirements and scope of the work.
Recommendations will be forwarded to the Oct. 15 public property committee meeting, which will then forward their decision to the Oct. 28 county board meeting for final approval.
A second round of projects will be let for bid in November, with decisions made after Jan. 1, 2027.
kpasson@newmedia-wi.com
