The Tiger Field Recreation Project will be re-bid a third time — this time due to “unbalanced bids”.
The latest delay will push the project to late in the year.
Statewide Engineering of Douglas, the county’s engineer for the project, placed a revised bid advertisement in this week’s edition. The new deadline Monday, July 27.
The latest delay is due to “unbalanced bids” according to Statewide. Engineers determined the prices submitted were unable to be awarded.
A delay in May was caused by a glitch in the upload link for the bids. In the first bidding process in March no companies gave a price on the project.
Sources told The Times in March prospective contractors were concerned about the deadline for the work. The county had previously set a September 1 deadline for completion to be ready in time for the recreation department’s fall sports.
The latest delay will likely push the improvements to after the fall sports season.
Improvements will include upgrades to the football and soccer fields, resurfacing the walking track, improving and adding parking and sidewalks that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Under the latest re-bid, the project will be divided into two phases, a southern part and a northern part.
The southern portion will include the walking track and parking lot with work slated to begin in September.
The northern portion includes the ball field, drainage, fencing and parking lot construction with work slated to begin December 1, after football season ends.
The commission has committed up to $1 million in improvements at the field. The monies for the improvements will come from a Land and Water Conservation Fund grant and from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST) and from the county’s general fund.
Plans for improvements at Tiger Field have been in the works for the last three years.
Tiger Field has been in use in the county since 1958, when it was built as part of the facilities for Blackshear High School. Blackshear High School merged with Patterson High School to form Pierce County High School in 1982.
The county has used the field for recreation facilities since that time.
