From a Peoria County press release:

Peoria County conducted the Peoria Riverfront Museum (PRM) bid opening this afternoon at the Peoria County Courthouse. Five companies submitted bids for construction of the PRM: Core Construction of Morton, IL; PJ Hoerr of Peoria, IL; River City Construction of East Peoria, IL; Walsh Construction of Chicago, IL; and Williams Brothers Construction of Peoria Heights, IL. The following table shows respective bid amounts:

Company	Core Constr.	PJ Hoerr	River City	Walsh Constr.	Williams Bros.
Base Bid	28,155,000	26,697,000	28,357,000	27,927,000	25,780,000
Alternate Total*	2,113,000	1,455,832	1,736,500	1,461,300	1,646,900
Bid Total	$ 30,268,000	$ 28,152,832	$ 30,093,500	$ 29,388,300	$ 27,426,900

*Alternate totals reflect the cumulative amount submitted for 31 items not included in the base bid.

Construction costs for the PRM were estimated at $35,829,249. Andrew Rand, Peoria County Board Member and Chairman of the County’s PRM Construction Committee, remarks on the cost savings realized by the bid amounts: "Peoria County is very pleased with the results of today’s bid opening. Protecting the tax payers’ investment is our top priority and, with bids coming in as much as $8 million below our estimates, we are able to do that. The museum project is moving forward at a time when construction costs are the most favorable we’ve seen in recent years and I believe this downtown development project bodes well for our economy and our workers."

Over the course of the coming days, county staff will conduct its due diligence to verify that all bid requirements were met and subsequently recommend the lowest responsible bid to the Peoria Riverfront Museum Committee at its meeting next week; meeting date and time are yet to be determined. Then, on December 9 at its regular meeting, the County Board will vote to award construction of the Peoria Riverfront Museum to the company submitting the lowest responsible bid.

Dave Ransburg, President of the Peoria Riverfront Museum Board of Directors, outlines the project timeline: "Over the past few months, we’ve all watched the progress of the parking deck in anticipation of the next phase: construction of the museum itself. Next week’s bid award is a major milestone in a project that’s been a long time coming. Now we just have a few short winter months to wait until construction begins and what has been known as the museum project will become reality in the fall of 2012!"

County Board Chairman Thomas H. O’Neill III echoes Ransburg’s enthusiastic sentiments: "The museum is happening and it is bringing jobs to our community when jobs are scarce across the country. It is a credit to the local construction trades that four of the five companies submitting a bid for this project are based right here in central Illinois. Using local labor to build the museum will help build our economy and there’s no better time for that than now."

For more information on the Peoria Riverfront Museum construction bids please call County Administration at (309) 672-6056.

“Protecting the tax payers’ investment is our top priority….” Funniest. Line. Ever.