Gainesville City board approves contractor and plans to buy adjacent city lot for indoor baseball/athletic facility

The Gainesville City School Board approved a construction contract and agreed to move forward with purchasing a small city-owned parcel for $10 to site an indoor baseball/athletic facility and locker rooms near the Walter/Watson campus.

The board approved the proposal after staff presented two returned bids and a guaranteed maximum price (GMP) for the indoor facility. The project as described includes a roughly 10,000-square-foot indoor building with locker-room space, coaches’ offices and related support spaces; a GMP of $625,291.55 was presented to the board as the construction price shown in the recommendation. Board discussion focused on timeline, site utilities and required safety upgrades that the city has asked to be completed before occupancy.

Board member Doctor Randy moved to approve the proposal as presented; the motion was seconded and approved by the board. The board record as presented did not include a roll-call tally in the transcript extract.

Staff told the board that two contractors submitted formal proposals after a mandatory walkthrough (four companies participated in the walkthrough). The two proposers named on the record were Scribe Construction Company (College Park) and Caravan Construction Company (Gainesville). Staff said the district used cost, completion date and the firms’ committed schedules as evaluation criteria and recommended the selected contractor based on those factors. The GMP and a construction contingency were included in the recommended award to cover unforeseen items such as paving or other site work.

Presenters and board members raised several conditions and dependencies the project will require before construction and occupancy: the district must extend an existing water line down to the building site (the current low-pressure 3/4‑inch line ends near the park entrance), add a fire hydrant and meet the city’s fire-protection requirements, and coordinate with existing underground utilities and site grading. Staff described the need to phase work in the same way the district phased prior projects: build core indoor facility elements first, hold off on some field and press-box work for a later phase, and preserve current press-box operations for another year or two while the district addresses utility and grading constraints.

Board members asked whether unused contingency funds would return to the district; staff confirmed that unused contingency would revert to the district. Staff also said procurement and long lead times for materials present schedule risk and that the district is working to order materials early to meet the target of having the facility ready for the next feasible season.

The board directed staff to proceed with contract finalization and to return with construction documents and architect coordination as the district advances design and site preparation. No additional funding-source breakdown was shown in the transcript excerpt; staff said certain site improvements are subject to separate phasing decisions and future budget approvals.

The action clears the district to begin contract execution and site work planning, while staff continues design and permitting steps required by the city and by utility providers.