VGCC Pleased With Bids For Construction Of New Classroom Building On Main Campus
Two Durham companies, one from Wilson and one from Oxford are the low bidders for construction of a new 51,921 square-foot classroom building on Vance-Granville Community College’s main campus in Vance County.
Bids were opened June 13, and Bordeaux Construction Co. of Durham submitted the lowest of six bids for the general construction contract at $2,802,075. Lewis Electric Inc. of Oxford had the lowest electrical bid of $759,432 from among nine bidders. Five companies vied for the plumbing contract, with Progressive Plumbing & Piping of Durham submitting the low bid of $155,301. Southern Piping Co. of Wilson had the lowest of four heating and air conditioning bids at $815,102.
“We received a large number of bids for the work, and they were extremely good bids,” said VGCC President Robert A. Miller. “This is a sign of the economic times; construction companies need work, and they are competing hard for jobs such as ours.”
The State Construction Office and the North Carolina Community College System must approve the low bids. Once that approval is received, the college expects to break ground on the new building in July. It will take about 15 months to complete construction, and the college expects the building to be complete about September or October 2003.
“This construction is not coming a minute too soon,” Miller said. “This is a critical time for the college. As enrollment continues to grow, we are experiencing extremely crowded conditions. The new building will help meet our need for additional classrooms, and it will allow us to accommodate the expanding technology that is driving so many of our programs.”
The new three-story classroom building on the main campus is the first to be built at Vance-Granville Community College from money made available from the sale of bonds authorized by the Higher Education Facilities Referendum passed by North Carolina voters in November 2000. Vance-Granville is scheduled to receive $17.1 million for new construction and renovations from the bonds, to be sold over a six-year period. A new building or expansion is scheduled for the Warren County Campus, Franklin County Campus and the South Campus in Granville County.
Technology will be emphasized in the new building, which will house computer laboratories, Information Highway labs and classrooms, and Internet and network labs. Space for Occupational Extension training and for literacy programs are also included in the building.
