The quest to cut the price tag of the Burns Bottom soccer complex is moving toward the light.
City Engineer Kevin Stafford and officials from Columbus Light & Water have met regarding the city”s capabilities to provide in-kind services at the park, which will be paid for by the county. The original plan for the soccer complex budgeted approximately $1 million for lighting. But that plan included concrete poles for field lights and street lights, which CL&W can”t provide.
“We went with steel because our equipment can handle that a lot easier,” said Todd Gale, general manager at CL&W. “If we do concrete we”d have to rent a crane. That”s more than our trucks are designed for.”
The new plan calls for steel poles for the field lights and black fiberglass poles for the street lights. Material costs are actually lower for the concrete poles, but the steel and fiberglass poles will be cheaper to install and maintain. Plus, the city already has the fiberglass poles in stock.
Gale estimated CL&W”s cost for the poles and some wiring would work out to approximately $300,000. However, the county and the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority would still have to buy light fixtures for the field lighting and pay for some additional electrical work.
Stafford said concrete poles were originally included to match the poles along the Riverwalk.
“It”s more natural and it blends in,” he said of the concrete poles, but admitted the steel and fiberglass poles are a step above the cheapest option of wooden poles.
The decorative luminaries used for street lights may also differ from those used at the Riverwalk. Stafford says the luminaries may not provide as much light as the Riverwalk lights but will provide the foot-candles required for public safety.
Lighting will still be included when the soccer complex project is advertised for bids to private contractors for the second time later this month based on the strong possibility that a contractor can provide the lighting cheaper than the city.
Research is underway to establish an estimated cost for the revised lighting plan.
Additional cost-saving measures being considered include a switch throughout the site from copper to aluminum wiring and using pine instead of Ipe wood for the proposed boardwalk.
“None of that jeopardizes the integrity of the park,” said Stafford.
The soccer complex project will be bid by individual disciplines (civil, building, electrical, etc.) in hopes of drawing bids from a greater number of contractors. Stafford predicts bids will be received by the end of February and contracts will be worked out in March and awarded by April. The fields, which are currently being cleared by city and county crews, may have grass by July and should be ready for soccer in September.
Stafford said all the park”s sidewalks and bridges may not be completed by September, but will follow shortly.
Jason Browne was previously a reporter for The Dispatch.
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