SNOHOMISH — Bids for the construction of a new senior center in Snohomish have come back about a quarter-million dollars higher than supporters had hoped, creating another speed bump for the project that has been delayed by obstacles.
“We are not concerned about that. We are not discouraged at all,” Kandace Harvey, president of the Snohomish Senior Center board of directors, said Friday.
The lowest bid that the city has received for the project was $1.75 million, city manager Larry Bauman said. That’s more than the project’s original estimate of $1.5 million. The City Council is expected to reject the bid at an Oct. 16 meeting, Bauman said.
The center’s board of directors has yet to decide what to do next to advance the project, Harvey said. Supporters are still confident that they can build the 6,000-square-foot center for $1.5 million at a 1.27-acre lot on Fourth Street, Harvey said. They have secured the money through fundraising events, private donations and state and federal grants.
The center is planned to open in 2008, Harvey said.
When it’s done, the city will own the building and lease it to the senior center for $1 annually, Harvey said. The city also plans to pitch in $1,000 per month to help the center’s operation.
City Councilman Dean Randall said he continues to support completing the project.
“The city can be a support, but seniors also need to continue to work on funding sources and donations,” Randall said.
The project has come a long way.
The senior center used to operate in a house on Cypress Avenue. The new center was originally planned to go up on the nearby site where pioneer cemetery had been located.
In late 2005, the city identified 96 places where it believed human remains were buried. The discovery caused the project to move to Fourth Street.
Later, it turned out that the soil at the site Fourth Street was contaminated. In 2007, the city removed two piles of oil-contaminated soil and two underground water tanks at the site.
The city has spent about $300,000 on the project to date, Bauman said.
Meanwhile, the house on Cypress Avenue was demolished, and the senior center has operated in the downstairs of a local church building for two years.
Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.
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