Aurora contractor
bids $5.4 million
By Vinde Wells
vwells@shawnews.com
Shaw News Service
OREGON – The committee overseeing the Ogle County Courthouse renovation
has given the nod to an Aurora contractor who bid $5.4 million to get the job done.
The Long Range Planning Committee voted 5-1 Tuesday to recommend the Ogle County Board hire EVS Construction. The board is expected to vote on the contract June 16.
Bids came in much lower than anticipated – construction was expected to cost around $7.5 million.
The entire project likely will cost about $7.4 million, substantially less than the $9.5 million first estimated, said architect Dennis Vovos, of Holabird & Root, in Chicago.
The $7.4 million includes construction, furnishings, design costs, moving costs and rent for the Watt Building in Mount Morris, where county offices are located for the duration of the project.
Once renovated, the courthouse will house the offices of the county clerk and recorder, treasurer and collector, supervisor of assessments, coroner, animal control, and geographic information system partnership.
Work is expected to begin immediately and take 10 months.
The courthouse, built in 1891, is on the National Register of Historic Places. EVS President Edwin Valle told the committee that his company will hire a structural engineer with expertise with historic buildings.
