Staff Report
A nearly $2.27 million contract with the J.E. Foster Building Co. for the construction of a new No. 3 Firehouse was approved last week by the Mehlville Fire Protection District Board of Directors.
The Board of Directors voted unanimously Friday to approve the construction contract with the Green Park company. The board previously voted to award the contract to J.E. Foster, the low bidder.
The approved $2,268,325 contract for the new firehouse at 4811 S. Lindbergh Blvd. also includes two additions to the base bid — a basement foundation expansion and an alternate HVAC design.
The 8,000-square-foot firehouse will replace the existing No. 3 Firehouse at 11625 Sappington Barracks Road, about 1,000 feet to the west. The existing firehouse was built in 1957, and district officials believe it needs to be replaced.
The new firehouse will be similar in design to the district’s No. 2 and No. 4 firehouses, but also will include a training tower and a walkout basement.
The No. 2 Firehouse was completed in 2009 at 5434 Telegraph Road and an open house was conducted March 12 at the recently completed No. 4 Firehouse at 13117 Tesson Ferry Road.
Ten base bids were submitted for the new firehouse that ranged from J.E. Foster’s low bid of $2,206,000 to John Kalicak Construction Inc.’s high bid of $2,485,000.
District officials and representatives of Archimages, the district’s architect, interviewed the two low bidders, J.E. Foster and Wright Construction Services, which submitted a base bid of $2,234,000. After the interviews, Archimages recommended the board award the contract to J.E. Foster.
The board voted unanimously last July to spend $571,000 to purchase the 1.1-acre property at 4811 S. Lindbergh Blvd. from the Dominic and Margaret E. Intag Trust.
A house on the site will be demolished before construction begins.
The new firehouse, just like the previous three firehouses built by the district, is being constructed without a tax-rate increase or a bond issue, according to Board of Directors Chairman Aaron Hilmer.
