MUSEUM AFFECTED BY PROJECT'S DELAY

Four elevators to be installed this summer in buildings at Southeast Missouri State University appear to be stuck in the bidding process.

The low bid of just under $1 million for the package of four elevators and miscellaneous remodeling was submitted by Penzel Construction Co. of Cape Girardeau. The bid is "significantly over" the anticipated cost, according to Al Stoverink, the university's director of facilities management.

"We very likely will not award this contract," Stoverink said. "We very likely will rebid for next summer, but that decision has not been finalized yet."

Stoverink is awaiting word from the state Division of Design and Construction about whether to accept the bid, rebid immediately or rebid next summer.

The state is paying half the cost of installing the elevators, and the Division of Design and Construction oversees Americans with Disabilities Act compliance in state buildings.

The construction will bring the University Museum, McGill Hall of Science and Houck Field House into compliance with the ADA.

The University Museum, which will be affected most by the construction, already had closed in anticipation of the summer-long project and had put much of its collection in storage. Now the museum is planning to reopen.

The museum's statues of the Venus de Milo and Diana, shrouded in sheets and plastic, will be unwrapped. Its priceless collection of Mississippian artifacts, the best in the world, will be returned from storage.

Museum Director Pat Reagan-Woodard said she's trying to look on the positive side of the situation. "We've always had a good relationship with the Arts Council summer workshops, and now we'll be able to continue it," she said.

Within the coming days, the galleries will be refilled with fiber art, sculpture, paintings and drawings to coincide with the four workshops the Arts Council is offering school-age children during the summer.

Whether the university will be allowed to wait a year before complying with the ADA will weigh in the decision whether to rebid next summer, Stoverink said.

"We're not sure we can wait that long. Ultimately the decision rests with us but we want to make sure we're in step with people at design and construction," he said.

Only two companies bid on the project. Timing may have resulted in the higher-than-expected bid.

"Contractors in this area are pretty loaded up," Stoverink said. "We know this has been a very busy time, and we may not have gotten as good a bid on the project."

He said the university is trying to assess the current market by consulting with other private contractors "to decide what else might be out there if we did rebid."

Breaking the package up into separate projects is another possibility, Stoverink said.

"Occasionally when you run into a situation like this you have to step back and tackle it differently."