No bids: Union City Alumni Field stadium rebuild delayed

Union City will hold its Fourth of July fireworks at the football stadium after the school system received no bids for its project to replace stands at the field. 

The Alumni Field gates will open Sunday at 6:30 p.m. with the field games at 7 p.m. Fireworks begin at 10 p.m.

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Superintendent Chris Katz informed his board and sponsors on June 20 of the change. Construction was expected to be underway by the holiday, so the celebration had been moved to the middle school. 

For the event and football season, Katz hopes to be able to spruce up the stadium and level off some of the areas where the seating area, “those that are terrible.”

Built on the side of the hill above the St. Joseph River, the seating was shifting and washing down the hill.  

The estimated $1.5 million project was top of the projects list when voters approved a three-mill, 10-year sinking fund millage last year. 

Excavators were ready, but no contractor bid.

“There are too many large projects” for contractors, Katz told his board. “It’s not a large enough project like a building.” 

The work is complicated with piers sunk into the hillside “so the stands won’t shift over time.”  The proposal called for the contractor to tear out the current stands and stabilize the hillside. Existing stands will be replaced with cement topped by aluminum bleachers. 

The community put in the original stadium stands with volunteers without design engineering. 

Asked about an increase in costs with the delay, Katz admitted, “who knows where inflation will take us.” 

By bidding early in the fall, the superintendent hopes more contractors will be looking for work. He hopes it could be completed by track season. 

Looking back a year, “the whole economy is in turmoil. Who knows” what costs will be? 

Other projects are still moving along. The school system plans to use around $1.4 million in COVID-19 Care Act funding. Drawings are expected in August for HVAC changes in the buildings. These will improve air quality, energy use and get more ventilation in the school buildings.

By September or October, plans to replace the single 27-year-old boiler in the middle school should be completed. That would allow for the installation of twin boilers with higher efficiency units after the winter heating season. 

Katz expects plans to wrap up by December on installing water piping for the high school overhead, similar to what was completed in the elementary and middle schools several years ago.