ASHLAND — Four bids for a new Ashland County Administration Building came in under the estimated $7 million project cost.
Those bids — along with eight others — were opened Thursday morning in front of a large crowd gathered in the Ashland County Board of Commissioners conference room.
Commissioner Denny Bittle said Thursday’s bid opening was the largest he has been a part of during his 12 years in office.
Campbell Construction of Wooster, Simonson Construction Services of Ashland, Action Contractors of Bedford Heights and Sona Construction of Independence each submitted base bids below the $7 million estimate.
Campbell Construction submitted the apparent low bid at $6,532,000, nearly $500,000 under the project’s estimate.
Below is a breakdown of the 12 base bids opened Thursday, listed in order from lowest base bid to highest:
- Campbell Construction (Wooster): $6,532,000
- Simonson Construction (Ashland): $6,776,000
- Action Contractors (Bedford Heights): $6,969,000
- Sona Construction (Independence): $6,974,000
- Infinity Construction (Warrensville Heights): $7,115,000
- Studer-Obringer, Inc. (New Washington): $7,234,000
- Ozanne Construction (Cleveland): $7,295,300
- Telamon Construction (Sandusky): $7,660,000
- Setterlin (Columbus): $7,691,500
- Shrock Construction (Loudonville): $7,733,000
- Janotta & Herner (Monroeville): $7,749,000
- Ascension Construction Solutions (Columbus): $7,871,656
Brad Adams, owner of VSWC Architects, said Thursday the design process for the new county administration building took about a year to complete.
The new building will be on a 1.6-acre lot at the corner of Cottage and Fourth streets near downtown Ashland — formerly the site of the old Ashland Middle School.
Commissioners approved the purchase of the 345 Cottage St. property in August 2024 for $400,000.
It will house relocated offices for several county departments, including the auditor’s office, treasurer’s office, recorder’s office and tax map office — which are all currently located inside the Ashland County Courthouse.
The total building area will be around 13,000 square feet, Adams said. He estimated construction will begin between March and April and be complete by March 2027.
Adams said the next step includes getting in contact with Campbell Construction — the apparent low bidder — to schedule a review of the scope of the project.
Alternate bids
Ashland County Commissioner Michael Welch said in January that commissioners received letters from the judges two years ago requesting the courthouse only house court-related offices.
When the Board approved seeking bids for the new administration building on Jan. 8, commissioners said it will be paid for from already saved funds — meaning no borrowed money.
“We are out of debt. We want to stay that way,” Bittle said in January.
Each company that submitted a bid for the project also included an alternate bid related to an optional alteration in the project’s scope — a decision that falls to commissioners.
Adams said there is an existing underground (water) detention system on the 345 Cottage St. property which was specified to be precast concrete vaults.
“We know that there is other systems out there that would function,” Adams said. “They could be polyethylene or plastic culverts or something like that instead, as long as they met the volume characteristics.”
If commissioners choose to alter the project’s scope by replacing the precast vaults with a different alternative material, it could result in a reduction to the project’s overall cost.
Campbell Construction’s alternate bid included a $405,300 deduction from its base bid of $6,532,000. As of Thursday, the board is still weighing its decision on the option.
