Oct 29, 2012 2 min read

After being just a dream of officials in Chartiers Township for several years, a community center will soon become a reality. Earlier this month, the board awarded bids for construction of the 9,100-square-foot community center to be built at Arnold Park off Pike Street. The bids were awarded after review by township solicitor James Liekar. Kusevich Contracting of Etna will be the general contractor with a bid price of $1,049,556. Schultz Electric of South Strabane Township will do the electrical work after bidding $120,214. Plumbing work will be done by Mele Mechanical of Braddock with a bid of $156,100 and mechanical work will be done by D&G Mechanical Inc. of West Middlesex with a bid of $107,901. A number of contractors submitted bids for the project, particularly for the general contracting work, said township Manager Samuel R. Stockton. “I was happily surprised by the numbers,” Stockton said. The base bids for the general contracting work ranged from $1,039,743 to $1,456,800. The board also opted to include 15 alternate items for different features including coil doors, wainscotting, a projector screen and a kitchen island. Much of the money for the project came from two $500,000 grants. One of the grants is part of the local share allocation while the other is a state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant. The township was initially approved for the grant in October 2010, by then-Gov. Edward Rendell. But when Gov. Tom Corbett took office, he wanted to review the applications before awarding any of the grants, Stockton said. The township learned it received final approval in March. Stockton said the township had about $1.8 million available for the project. Part of that amount was used for the architect, various studies and engineering. The building will be block on the bottom with brick on the upper portion. “This will be a true community center,” Stockton said. “The banquet area can seat 252 people. There will be an activity room, small party room, kitchen and formal conference room.” Space also will be set aside for the local senior citizen group. Liekar is working on the agreements with the contractors. Stockton expects the notice to proceed top be given next month. “If all goes well, the projected opening date will be September of 2013,” he added. “But you never now what will happen until you open the ground.”