Jul. 7--CEDAR RAPIDS -- Travelers using The Eastern Iowa Airport later this year will find new signs, a covered walkway from the passenger terminal to the short- and long-term parking lots and a new parking attendant building.
The Cedar Rapids Airport Commission on Friday awarded a $3.2 million construction contract to Tricon General Construction of Dubuque to build the walkway and the parking lot revenue building.
The contract amount exceeds a March estimate of projected cost by 8 percent, but is 5 percent less than an updated estimate last month.
The parking building was combined with the covered walkway after earlier bids for the structure were rejected by the commission when they exceeded an engineer's estimate for the project.
"We realize that the low bid for the project is slightly above the projected cost in March, but we feel that waiting any longer will result in higher prices," Airport Director Dan Mann said.
Commissioner Dan Theis, an architect with OPN Architects in Cedar Rapids, agreed with Mann that higher material costs would likely make the project more costly.
"We may spend just as much and get less work done," Theis said.
Mann said construction on the covered walkway and parking attendant building will begin this summer. Completion is projected for late January.
The airport commission also awarded a $395,586 contract to ASI Modulex of Grinnell for new exterior signs at the airport. The contract amount is 43.8 percent below the $703,000 projected cost for the project.
Mann said five bids were received for the signs, which will follow the same design theme as the main entrance sign on Wright Brothers Boulevard.
"We received some very competitive bids for this project," Mann said.
Mann said ASI Modulex provided assurances they will be delivering signs that meet the specifications in the contract. The company will begin work shortly on the signs, with installation progressing in phases until completed in December.
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