Construction could Begin in June

-By Joseph Domelowicz

Construction of the long-awaited marine terminal building at the public landing could finally be on the horizon. The only hitch is if the current bidding process continues to go as planned, according to Winthrop Harbormaster Charles ”Chucky” Famolare, who was present for the opening of sealed sub-contracting bids on Tuesday.

“The architect for the building had projected a budget of $248,573 for sub-contractor bids and the actual (winning) bids that were opened on Tuesday totaled $236,440 less than that,” said Famolare on Tuesday evening. “The real proof will be next week, when the bids for the general contractor are opened, but so far the bids have been very competitive and have been within the projected budget.”

Construction of the marine terminal was delayed almost two years ago when competitive bids for the proposed building came in almost $400,000 over budget. Since then, according to Famolare, the building has been scaled back by the architect and some of the materials have been changed to help bring in bids that will keep project below the almost $750,000 in grants the town has to use on the project.

Famolare, who is not involved in the bidding process, except as an interested observer, said that if the final general contractor bids are within the budget and the town can award a contract by sometime in May, construction could begin by June 1.

“The project calls for a six-month construction period, but our architect (Donald Lang) feels it can be done in four-months if everything goes well,” he added.

Famolare also said that he doesn’t expect the summer construction season to interfere with daily operations at the landing too much.

“We’ll be ale to manage it. We’ll give the contractor ample space to complete their work, but for the most part we’ll still have room to continue normal operations at the landing and pier,” he said. “The only time we expect any real problems will be on three days, July 4th, the recreation department’s Back to the Beach day and the Chamber’s Old Fashioned Family Beach Day, but those aren’t normal days either and they’re always busy anyway.”

“Overall, I’d say the news from the sub-bids today was very encouraging, but the real story will be told next week when the general contract bids come in,” he said. “That’s when we’ll know.”