Board moves forward with Lincoln, Westbrook construction: bids received; Lincoln groundbreaking set Sept. 30

District 57 administrators and consultants updated the board Sept. 23 on construction bidding for Lincoln Middle School and Westbrook School and asked the board to approve contract awards.

Dave Torres of Nicholas and Associates summarized the public bid process: the consultant team packaged documents into multiple prime bid packages (nine for Westbrook, 10 for Lincoln), sent roughly 100 bid invitations and held mandatory pre-bid meetings. Torres said both projects drew strong contractor interest — roughly 50 prime bid packages had responses at each site — and that several alternates were included to preserve budget flexibility.

Torres said contractors bid aggressively and that recommended low bidders were reviewed to confirm they covered the full scope. Jason Case introduced project team members from STR (Mike Henderson and Sandra Moon) and noted that Lincoln’s groundbreaking is scheduled for Sept. 30 at 3:15 p.m. with fencing to go up the week of Oct. 6 and construction starting in earnest the week of Oct. 13. Case said most heavy Westbrook work will begin the following summer, while some winter-break and spring-break tasks are planned to limit student disruption.

Board members asked about bidder experience and alternates that were left out for budget reasons. The district said all recommended contractors have relevant experience and that a small number of alternates were not recommended because the board preferred to prioritize other items within budget.

The board recorded a motion to approve the Westbrook and Lincoln construction bids. The public transcript records the motion being made but does not include a roll-call vote for the action in the public text. District leaders said they will proceed with contract awards and project mobilization; the first community celebration is the Lincoln groundbreaking on Sept. 30.